St Barth French West Indies. A t-shirt that just about everyone owns. Pati, the designer of the Pati de St Barth brand, is part of that special generation of people who arrived in Saint Barthélemy in the 1980s. With no money, but plenty of good ideas… and it was love at first sight.
Her love affair with the island is mutual. In her two beautifully designed shops—one in Gustavia and one in St Jean—her signature clothing collections are at once elegant and relaxed, the symbol of a woman who has evolved in keeping with the island, while maintaining her authenticity.
Interview
You have lived in Saint Barthélemy for quite some time…
I arrived in 1983 with a small box of watercolors and a few sheets of drawing paper, after a three-year trip around the world. The first night, I camped at Grand Fond and two policemen woke me up very early in the morning. Camping is not allowed in Saint Barth and they wanted to put me on the first plane out of here. I was finally able to stay by promising them I would get a hotel room. I had just enough to pay for two nights at Tom Beach, and as soon as I got the room I started painting landscapes of the island. I put my watercolors in a few boutiques and two days later they were all sold, so I could stay longer on the island. That’s how it all got started.
Then you started creating t-shirts…
At first I painted them by hand. They were so popular that I couldn’t keep up with the demand. So I modernized and bought a silk-screen printing machine. I taught myself to use it, but it wasn’t easy and it took me a year to master the technique. At the same time, I was creating logos for my clients and one day, in 1989, I designed one for myself. I wanted something simple with a symbol that represented the island. The logo for
How do you explain that success?
I can’t explain it. I understood that this t-shirt would only last if you could only find it in Saint Barthélemy and by making it a unique style with personalized accents. Then all of a sudden, black was all the rage. Since I couldn’t find black t-shirts in Saint Barth or in Saint Martin, I started to dye them myself. I was never able to really make black. I always got a dark gray and never the same gray twice! But that’s exactly what everybody liked. Each series of t-shirts was different. I printed them day and night and clients came at 4am to make sure they got one!
Since you launched that t-shirt, you have really grown…
Over the years, we concentrated on marketing this logo with different styles of lettering. I am also very concerned about the quality of the fabrics. In Saint Barth, we need fabrics that allow the skin to breathe, fabrics that are soft and easy to wear. For the past three years we have also gone in a new direction. We went to Peru to look for beautiful cottons and have since been developing our own collections in addition to t-shirts. The logo is always present on our clothes. We have become a ready-to-wear brand with its own identity. And a lifestyle both elegant and relaxed that corresponds to what I love in Saint Barthélemy.
What are your new projects?
My husband, François, and I always have a lot of ideas. And we are very proactive. In this business, you always have to be a step ahead. We will continue to develop the brand and present new styles. I also would like to have more time to paint and write. I would need a second life to do all I want to do, but for now, this one is pretty full.
