Petite Patrie's latest collection, paying hommage to Mathieu Kassovitz's French cult classic "La Haine", will be arriving at the shop on Thursday. We sat down with Johnny F. Kim and Laurent Poignot to learn more about the collection and Petite Patrie in general.
The brand's origin is relatively straight forward, explains Johnny, "I wanted to make tees I could wear. I always wanted to have my own brand." Once he decided that he wanted to start a small label, it was a matter of getting the branding down.
The name Petite Patrie was inspired by the Montreal neighbourhood of the same name, where Johnny used to live. The neighbourhood was built by the working class around the train tracks; it had a street vibe and a historical aspect that appealed to Johnny. Once he had figured out what he wanted to do and under what name, he turned to Laurent to see if he would be interested in helping with the logo design and in working together on the label.
Being based in different continents might stop some people, but Johnny and Laurent actually enjoy it. Laurent is based out of Paris, while Johnny is in Montreal. "We are always online. By phone or online, we talk regularly" says Laurent, which makes it easier for them to move forward on projects quickly. According to Johnny, the only downside of working on opposite sides of the Atlantic is that they can't "hang out and work side-by-side."