Le Le x Patta x Converse 5th Anniversary Project
Interview with Guillaume “Gee” Schmidt
Congratulations on reaching the 5 year mark with Patta, take us back to the Dutch sneaker and streetwear scene 5 years ago, before Patta started. How does it look now?
Wherever there is street culture you will have street fashion. The Netherlands are no different, in this sense. Its always pretty basic, but the main focus locally was and still is on runners. We love them runners! The AM 1, Epics, AM 90s, Air Stabs, New Balance 1300s and so on. This was the norm 5 years ago and it still is today.
5 years ago you had shops like 90 Square Meters in Amsterdam and Concrete in The Hague that have all been around for a minute. Nowadays you would call those shops concept-shops. Seventy-Five in Amsterdam is one of the first sneaker boutiques. You also had guys selling sneakers out of the back of their car, guys like “Mikey Nike” and “Shoe Pirate Dennis”. So the concept of selling sneakers and the gear to go with it wasn’t a new thing when we started out 5 years ago. Our approach however was different. We have always seen Patta more as a cultural platform which combines a lot of our interests which are obviously fashion but also encompass film, art, books and ultimately music. Edson (my partner in business) and I both have a musical background, which integrates into Patta. Edson is a DJ and we both used to work for Fatbeats. Music is what connected a lot of the people we still work with now… MR Wix, Masta Lee, Vic, Tim, Benny from Ben G… they all came through those doors.
How did your relationship with Parra begin?
Piet, known as Parra to most of you, is a multi-talented cat. When we opened Patta we all came under one roof and so we mixed up all the disciplines. Piet was doing his art thing with his label Rockwell and worked with a lot of big brands. He helped us with logos, tees, design, everything… he was essential to us.
What sort of influences came together to create Patta and what effect has this had on the overall Dutch streetwear landscape?
Our ass was never about staying local! We always aimed for being known on an all-around level. A lot of our influences on that end and our mentality came from our direct surroundings with our friends and family… and on that note I can’t forget New York City. That city influenced us a lot; Jacky from The Bangers where we always stayed, people like Jamie Story, Gio Estevez, Neal Santos, Aaron Bondaroff, etc. A lot of the OG Supreme crew showed us the way of grinding it out… from there we made the connections with Treis from A.R.C. So these were the tools to start our first business deals with shoes, tees and the basics. Fast forward five years later to now and I think the landscape for street culture has became bigger and more well known. Shops I mentioned before are still around but you now have shops like Wo, Frisco, Dings, Re-Issue and brands like Ontour who are all doing their thing and are part of the scene as we know it now. I don’t think we created it but I think we definitely helped build and accelerate the process, so its on a pretty big scale in Holland now. All different shades are represented, street kids with AM1s, hipsters, skaters… a lot of vulcanized soles now too. Fashion and streetwear are coming closer together and it happens everywhere. The only way to get to the point we’re at now was through a lot of teamwork, so when we say Patta, we come out as a team. It doesn’t only involve me, Edson, Parra or Lee…it’s a true team.
What sort of things were you guys up to before taking the plunge into Patta?
We all came from pretty different backgrounds, Edson was a store manager at Fatbeats Amsterdam and DJing. He was the main inspiration for most of us concerning the sneaker game/buying.
