20 years of Patta
What do:
Toronto’s Tom Fitzgerald and Gary Roberts playing their 1000th NHL game
Minnesota Wild setting a record for fastest consecutive goals in NHL history to win 4-2 against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks
Tom Brady playing in the XXXVIII Super Bowl
Peyton Manning being signed to the Indianapolis Colts with the largest package (to that day) in NFL history
The Saint Joseph’s Hawks winning the A-10 East conference with a perfect 27-0 record
Lisbeth Lennon breaking the 100m freestyle Women’s World Record
Brady Bond hitting 661 career home runs
Eli Manning being first pick in the NFL draft by San Diego Chargers
…and many other sports achievements have in common?
It all happened 20 years ago.
Do you know what else happened 20 years ago? Patta was founded.
Now, Patta has become a household name in the sneaker game. It has gotten so big, in fact, that you cannot talk about sneakers without referencing Patta. But that’s now. And it’s more than merited: they earned their stripes.
But how did it all start? Their slogan says it all and is a great indication about the ethos of the brand that continues to be as alive as ever 2 decades after it started it all: “out of love and necessity rather than profit and novelty”. The founders, Edson Barpapa and Guillaume Schmidt (aka “Gee”), in the many interviews they’ve given over the years, always say the same thing: Sneakers weren’t available in Amsterdam as they were in other parts of the world. So they set out on a mission to curate, bring back, and sell them out of their own store, and a community began to form.
But you have to stop and think for a second what was going on in the world in 2004. Sure, it was a globalised world, but not as much as it is now. Mark Zuckerberg had just launched Facebook, and although it spread fast, it still took a while to hit Europe. Instagram wasn’t even an idea… the biggest source of information on sneakers were forums (as a matter of fact, NikeTalk was celebrating it’s 5th year anniversary, but that’s another story).
So again, in a digital-but-not-as-connected-as-today world, the pair set out to challenge the status quo. And they managed to grow an impressive community. It wasn’t long before they built up their own brand and really started to push the idea of giving back to the community, and in Amsterdam, they are ever-present, yet their reach is global.
With stores now in Amsterdam, London, Milan, and Lagos, they have become a global brand that remains true to their roots. Still on that same mission, and delivering.
It wasn’t long before brands started to notice Patta. The stories of the numerous DJ’s, artists and celebrities passing through the store are countless (even more from the early days) - it was a bit of a IYKYK look and feel back then, but gave a sense of belonging to many.
One of those brands was Nike. And the partnership between the two brands has been one to celebrate. When sneaker heads are asked about all-time grails, many refer to the Air Max 1’s that sprung from the partnership. And amongst the top of the top: the Chloro.
It is an iconic color. The color-blocking is reminiscent of classic Air Max 1’s, but the shade of green with the mini-swoosh is something that has given the sneaker the ultimate grail status it has today.
It was originally released in early 2009 to kick off the celebration of the 5th anniversary of Patta, it was followed by “Purple Denim” that followed suit in terms of color blocking, but then the team went after material richness and excitement with the three that followed: Denim (which actually combined Corduroy, Suede, Nubuck and denim), Lucky Green (which came in an almost entirely black upper with white accents on the swoosh, laces and midsole, and hits of “lucky green” on the eyelets, air bubble, Patta branding on the heel and tongue), and finally, what is regarded by many as the crown jewel, a masterpiece of materials: the Cherrywood.
