a family story
At Patricia Blanchet, family stories are like no other.
This beautiful, heartwarming tale of legendary proportions begins in North Africa.
Back in the late 1940s, Patricia's father, known as Rolando di Parigi, decided to set sail and cross the Mediterranean all by himself, aboard a makeshift boat cobbled together from giant squid intestines.
After surviving four legendary storms, he finally reached Marseille, where he became a professional poker player by day and a boxer by night.
But Marseille was far too small for his ambitions. So he headed north, travelling on horseback as far as Orléans before completing the final few hundred kilometres to Paris on foot.
Exhausted yet exhilarated by this biblical adventure, he quickly set about making a name for himself as a cabaret impresario. To do so, he invented an alter ego, Roland la Roulure, and opened a cabaret featuring non-binary drag performers.
But it was a flop. The world simply wasn't ready yet.
So he consulted a whole host of therapists to understand why he'd failed, before finally realising that the answer had been within him all along: a combination of ambition and sheer determination. The very foundations of Patricia's upbringing, where she was held to the highest standards from an early age. A true lesson in tolerance.
Rolando soon found his calling in the world of footwear, becoming one of its most influential figures. He was among the pioneers who brought Italian shoes to France. Quite simply, he was the Richard Clayderman of footwear. The Frédéric François of shoes.
It was in this world of inspiration, passion and boundless imagination that Patricia grew up. Cherished, adored, worshipped.
And it was here that she learnt to respect life and, above all, to respect others.
After a stint as a ballerina at the Paris Opera, a scuba diving instructor and a spiritual guide in Nepal, Patricia developed an boundless love for beautiful shoes and began working alongside her father, offering him her services à la carte.
After a few seasons, armed with a wealth of rather extraordinary experience, she decided to introduce her then-partner, Laurent, a.k.a. the Little Quinquin Blanchet, to the wonderful world of footwear.
He soon fell under its spell, and together they developed a uniquely poetic sensibility. Before long, they became the darlings of the shoe world, with every brand clamouring for their services.
And since they got along rather well, and the chemistry was still going strong in their four-poster bed, they decided to tie the knot and create a superhero with his feet firmly on the ground: Renaud.
Birth of the brand
It's 2009, an extraordinary and unforgettable year for anyone who loves fashion, passion, passion fruit, culture, bodybuilders, and everything to do with happiness, contemplation and hardcore sex. Patricia Blanchet finally becomes a brand. It is at this precise, unforgettable moment that the Blanchet family begins putting shoes on the feet of women all over the world. Some hail it as the most important event since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Others compare it to the release of Led Zeppelin's debut album.
The boutique
The rest of the adventure is every bit as well-known as the first Star Wars trilogy. In 2013, the long-awaited store opened its doors, located at 20 rue Beaurepaire. A store that would revitalize an entire neighborhood, an arrondissement, a riverbank, a country. Success was immediate, and laughter echoed through this small, voluptuous jewel box designed by the famous Colombian-French architect Catalina Castro.
The brand goes online
Finally, a year later, along came the online shop. It was the obvious next step, fuelled by a desire to shower the whole world with our designs bursting with energy, a little devilish spirit, bold colours and fabulous glitter.
Patricia Blanchet is a timeless brand destined to leave its mark on the future and forever change the way you look at your feet.