Le Patron from Amsterdam started in 2017 in a niche segment, with cycle couture. In other words: clothing inspired by the rich international cycling history, by riders such as Coppi, Bartali, Koblet or Bahamontes, to name just a few names. However, these are not items that you wear on the bike, but in your spare time. Now that Le Patron is affiliated with DST, the brand is being searched and found more often by retailers, says founder Melle van der Veen.
"This clothing line shows that you like to cycle, but do so in a modest way. No shirts with texts such as no pain, no gain, but designs that subtly refer to your admiration for the sophisticated, prestigious and confident looks of heroes of the past," says Melle van der Veen. He is a fanatic cyclist himself and likes to talk about it. He started the company with his friend Rogier Groen. Who of course also cycles.
Fashion label
“This is a business that was born out of passion. Something like this remains fun, we enjoy going back to work every day.” Together with designer Joanneke de Wit, who had a lot of experience in the clothing industry, and sales manager Brigitte Kooijman, point of contact for the B2B process, they form Le Patron, a fashion label with a wide range. Initially it was mainly T-shirts, but Le Patron now also designs and makes socks, underpants, jogging suits, swimming trunks and even backpacks and rompers. Collections from Amsterdam residents are now available at more than 100 bicycle shops in the Netherlands and Belgium. Socks mainly, but also more and more shirts and other items.
Searched and found more often
Le Patron has made a connection with the DST system because the demand for item information from bicycle specialist shops is increasing. "How should we book the socks, which information bank do you use? As an entrepreneur you can choose from various cash register systems and automation providers. What I kept seeing is that within those systems the information is often retrieved from DST. Because we focus exclusively on cycling specialist stores, we would like to be close to the source. Now that we are visible within the DST system, we see that we are searched for and found more often. As soon as a special section for casual ware is created within the DST system, that number will only increase. grow, I suspect. Some entrepreneurs want to set up an ordering portal themselves, but they still find that it is quite difficult. That's what you call a win-win for everyone.”
Theo Koomen
Behind every Le Patron design lies an entertaining anecdote from cycling history, a story that every cycling enthusiast will recognize. “These background stories can be found on our site. Such as Tournesols, the design of one of our shirts. Sunflowers, which refer to the fantastic stages of the Tour de France at the time and to the role that Theo Koomen had in it. It is these stories behind the designs that make the designs unique.” Le Patron has gained fame in recent years by being active through social media, but also through its presence at (cycling) fairs and festivals. Word of mouth does the rest, in combination of course with the fact that retailers in the cycling industry include the items in their range."
Limited editions
The brand remains exclusive because the items are only sold through the bicycle industry. The company does not ogle fashion retailers, for example. "By keeping it small and in a place where real cycling fans come, we reach the target group we are looking for. In addition, we consciously opt for limited editions, we do not produce more than 300 pieces per design." The designs and designs refer to the past, but are made with contemporary quality materials and produced exclusively in Portugal. “We attach great importance to that. We do not want to compromise on quality and choose not to make our products in low-wage countries.”