Talking Shop: A Comprehensive History of Patta Collaborations

‘Out of love and necessity, rather than profit and novelty.’

These are the words and motto of one of the most recognised and influential style boutiques in the world.

 (which is slang for ‘shoe’, a nod to the two founders’ Surinamese heritage) was opened in 2004 by Edson Sabajo and Guillaume ‘Gee’ Schmidt. During the humble beginnings of the nascent sneaker giant’s rise to hall-of-fame status, the two friends would roam around the world buying pairs from all over the globe, either sending full-size runs home in massive boxes or stuffing them inside their duffel bags. After two years of operations, together with ‘Homegrown’ and then the history-making 2007 ASICS , which paved the way for the massively revered collaboration movement.

From their very first collaboration, Patta have played a massive part in the development of ‘hype’ in sneaker culture. Their focus on design motifs and attitude towards collaborative work is second to none. Add that to Patta’s in-depth understanding of street culture, and you have a force to be reckoned with. As stated by Gee in an interview with The Daily Street, ‘You have to understand the history and the DNA of another brand, and then you have to understand your own DNA and history and what you’re gonna bring to the table, and those two things have to blend together’. This provides a clear insight into why their drops have buyers paying big bucks on the resell market.

Since the first box of personally-curated sneakers travelled from the other side of the world to reach their shelves in 2004, Patta have released over 50 collaborations. We’ve shortlisted those to compile a few of our favourites and placed them in chronological order – from their very first Air Max 90 all the way to this year’s Nike running collection.