Patrick Patterson: A Designer Living His Dream

P. Patterson Clothing
65 East Oak Street, Suite 3D
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 335-0674
Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm

The story of how Patrick Patterson, the boy from Booneville, Mississippi, became one of Chicago's up-and-coming young fashion designers goes back to a dream he once had when he was a teenager.

"In ninth grade I dreamt that I'd made a gown for Anita Baker, and after that it all clicked. I immediately started sketching out designs and became a fashion designer that very day," says Patterson.

The rest, as they say, is history. The week following his high school graduation, Patterson moved to the Windy City to attend the Illinois Institute of Art at Ray Vogue. After earning his associates degree in fashion design, he made his round freelancing before starting his own design company, P. Patterson, in January 1997. Since then this 25-year-old designer, who works out of his small studio on Oak Street, has been catching the eyes of the city's fashion elite and elected. Just last year Patterson amazed Chicago's Apparel Industry Foundation with his innovative designs and received the foundation's "Rising Star Award."

His Fall 2000 collection for his line P. Patterson marries the drapey and rich double wool crepe fabrication with Patterson's masterful tailoring and construction detail. Prices for the collection range from $338 to $758, with higher end products being coats and jackets. Blending traditional tailoring details with very beautiful fabrics, Patterson shows the kind of lining detail not usually found on clothes anymore. The production of his clothes, like his unique buttons and facings, defines the P. Patterson label.

"I think when you deal with customers in the Midwest, you want to sell them with how well the clothing is put together before you sell them with the design," says Patterson. "Some can be designed beautifully, but constructed awfully. What makes my designs unique is the construction. I believe so much in the right top stitch, the right edge stitch, the right seam, and the right spot to place a pocket. These little things make the biggest difference."

"All of P. Patterson's clothes are items you can keep from year to year and work into your wardrobe," explains his partner Valerie Neal. "They appeal to all groups of women; those women who prefer the classic and professional look. These clothes are sort of investment pieces."

Adds Patterson, "It's for the woman who is always put together well. And it is this woman who puts a lot of zest into her clothes, who influences the designer on a day-wear and ready-to-wear level."

Items at P. Patterson are made-to-order through his studio and are being shown to select boutiques in Chicago. Eventually Patterson and Neal plan on setting up their own retail space where they can offer women the P. Patterson style of clothes and style of retail. "I see myself being exclusive in some ways," says Patterson. "Our goal is to change the way women shop. I want to take the intimidation out of shopping for high-end clothes and start something that is innovative. That is where I see myself a few years from now."

And Patterson can't help but think about fashion night and day. "You see, for me everything is fashion," he says. "I think that's the way a lot of designers are. They see who they are in everything."

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