Meet Ondine Patout: The Designer Behind French Brand NYMFAVINTAGE
[UNPUBLISHED:] Tell us about yourself.
[ONDINE:] My name is Ondine and I live in Paris. I started as a designer in luxury. I worked for Alexander Wang in New York for a while, I worked for Yves Saint Laurent in Paris. Then I went into freelance and I opened my shop a year ago. Vintage was part of my job when I was a designer. I realized that I was always buying vintage for myself and for my job so I might as well just do that for everything.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What made you decide to start your own brand and become an entrepreneur?
[ONDINE:] I realized that I needed to create my own space because I had a hard time finding it in what was offered to me, especially if I wanted to say something to the world – if I had a message. Talking about women was something that was extremely important to me and when you're a designer for a brand, especially when you start, you don't have that much freedom to talk and have inputs about those kinds of things. In huge brands it's very difficult to like impose your vision of women, so I wanted to do it my own way. I'm mixing this love of vintage and luxury clothing with what I want to say about women. My freedom is so important that being independent was much more appealing after working in businesses.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What steps did you take to start your own brand?
[ONDINE:] The first step was finding the clothes – finding my products. I started to find all the clothes I wanted to sell then I had my mood board and I started to do a photo shoot. I always pick the women for my photoshoots who have a story. Generally, they're not stories that I'm going to expose because they're pretty personal, so it was more about thinking about the image. It was also a huge process to figure out what kind of woman I wanted to put out there because it's my image and I’m saying something.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How would you describe the style of clothes in your brand?
[ONDINE:] Sexy is something I would definitely say. I wear a lot of black, it's a very French Parisian cliché but I actually do wear a lot of black. I tried to not have all black in my store because I know that's not what people want but it's very sexy and very empowered.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How do you want people to feel when they're wearing your clothes?
[ONDINE:] Every time I purchase something I try it on and I see the effect it has on me. If I feel strong, if I feel cool, if I feel cute, then I can decide if I'm selling it or not. If it makes me feel this way, then I think other people can feel it too. It's pretty much a personal interpretation of the clothes.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Can you tell us about your rental program?
[ONDINE:] I'm in the middle of making it happen. I've done a catalog because I have the clothes that I sell but I have some that are only for rent. They are mainly luxury or high-end brands, but some are also just great non-labeled vintage pieces. They're for professionals, they're not for individuals. It's more for professionals for the magazines, for photoshoots, for stylists, for designers. When I was a designer, we rented out clothes to vintage stores. This is the only part where I also have a bit of men's wear because I think you can put one or the other on either gender, and it doesn't really change their inspiration as a designer. Some men's clothes have really interesting finishings, so they should have also access to that. That's something that's going to be happening very soon.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How do you find the clothes you sell?
[ONDINE:] Before COVID, I was traveling around Europe. I lived in London for six months a while ago so I have my spots and friends there that helped me find things. I went to Brussels, I went to Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Now with COVID, everything is so complicated. I have to find everything online.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Where do you see your brand five years from now?
[ONDINE:] I would like the brand to separate from that shop. I still want the shop but I would love the rental department to become really big. I would like to do more collaborations with female artists. I would like to expand and have the tools for it to be a space where women can have a space themselves – a space for exhibitions and interviews.
I’m also a musician, so I am also working on including music-related projects.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any advice for someone that you know wants to start their own brand?
[ONDINE:] Attract things to you – law of attraction. Always be patient and just accept that things are difficult, especially if you decide to do a business online during COVID. Be patient because it takes time. Don't lose focus, know where you're going, making a vision board will help. Every morning I tell myself how I want to feel and it affects my whole day and I think it's a good thing.
