A brief history of the brand

The late '00s saw globalization at a never-before-seen scale thanks to the growth of the internet. Dial-up modems became a thing of the past, as broadband was finally readily available for the general public. Comfortably able to connect with like-minded individuals around the world without the need for travel, the sneaker community started taking note of each other's existence and flocked towards each other like magnets. Masta Lee, fellow sneakerhead and one of the more tech-savvy DJ's with whom Edson worked at Fat Beats, joined the team and managed the first Patta website and its content. Products were available to order via email, and the worldwide community grew closer, attributing to the rapid spread of the Patta name worldwide. 

Moreover, the name also started ringing in brand offices around the world. Because high street competitors in the city saw these little troublemakers selling shoes that they couldn't get, they began raising questions to their account managers. These brand representatives were in a precarious position because the shoes in question weren't in their brand's catalogue offering, nor could they stop Patta from buying products out of their supposed jurisdiction. Since Patta was not the only entity to operate in these atypical methods, brands started mobilizing to stop these "agitators". However, as mentioned earlier, these individuals were the influencers of a community that engrosses themselves in their brand's particular products. So instead of stopping them, brands started working towards embracing these parties by way of collaboration. They moved away from the continental allocation model to a tiered exclusivity pyramid, which allotted exclusive styles to culture- and community-driven doors like Patta, while offering mainline products in bulk to the high street stores. All of the brands eventually met with Patta to present them an account and to officially bring them into the fold, but the actual first one to do so was ASICS. The account managers at the time were already friends of the team, but the account they offered was not very impressive yet. To sweeten the pot, ASICS offered a collaborative sneaker project on a model of Patta's choosing. The decision fell on the Gel-Lyte III, a model from the '90s that had fallen into obscurity, but was one of ASICS most accessible styles as it featured the performance capabilities that the brand was famous for, and also pushed the boundaries in terms of fashionability. Without any knowledge of Pantone colours, the team drew inspiration from the city of Amsterdam, and Masta Lee put it all together on a CAD. Besides the shoes, they also replaced the shoebox with a matching backpack. And after some back-and-forth, a greenlit sample and a mapped out release date, the first pictures hit the internet.