Designer Marcia Patmos' shop is a mix of the namesake brand's luxurious knitwear with a mix of independent clothing and accessories labels, clean beauty, coffee table books, and home and gift items. Marcia launched the brand M.Patmos in 2012 and opened the store in 2018 on a pretty tree-lined block in landmarked brownstone storefront on Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue, home to an array of interesting and diverse independent shops. Alongside the women's clothing and accessories the shop features rotating art and design exhibits.

"I love meeting customers face to face and seeing what they gravitate towards / learning a bit about them. I also love meeting and working with the other designers whose lines I sell in the shop."

What is M.PATMOS best known for? I am known for my knits and styles that are simple but special. Items with a good fit made of nice materials that are long lasting and have small, interesting details. Things that can be worn through many seasons, for travel, for work or weekend, dressed up a little for nighttime…

Who are your customers? We get a lot women (and men) ranging in age from 30-75 from all over Brooklyn and greater New York region, but also a lot of tourists from allover – Japan, Sweden, UK, other parts of USA…..a lot of friends or sisters or mothers and daughters taking a stroll who both like something….my favorites are the men who scope it out for their other half (some want to keep as a secret gift spot, and some bring them back to shop). My customer tends to be a creative professional, interested in design and quality.

How has the internet impacted your business? People find us from all over now. Most of our online customers are in the USA, in and surrounding urban areas, but we do have people from Australia, Japan, U.K., etc…..that find us via internet and social media. I would say that Instagram is also important and I do get a decent amount of sales from posts and stories that I do. 

Who inspires you? People who try new things.

What inspires you? Art, design, nature, people.

Before I was a shopkeeper, I…. have been a designer since I graduated from college in 1991, working for other companies and then having my own line since 2000. The first one was called Lutz & Patmos, which I co-ran for 10 years, and then I started M.PATMOS in 2011. 

Did you have prior retail experience? I have tested the water with a few popups in the west village and soho in manhatten, but otherwise, I have always been on the wholesale side of things, selling to other boutiques. Most of my direct contact to customers has been at trunkshows / pop ups at other stores I sell to during events. 

Your favorite thing about owning an independent shop? I love meeting customers face to face and seeing what they gravitate towards / learning a bit about them. I also love meeting and working with the other designers whose lines I sell in the shop.

Favorite Shops

• Layla on Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn;

• The End of History on Hudson Street, New York;

• Kalustyan’s on Lexington Avenue and Sahadi’s on Atlantic are sort of equal loves. Sahadi’s is closer to my heart because my Lebanese grandmother used to shop there growing up in Brooklyn, and I used to have to bring her bags of goodies every time I went home to visit.

• Cabane de Zucca in Tokyo – I always find something I love there.

• I am not sure if the farmers market counts as a shop, but I don’t see why it doesn’t – I usually go to the one at Grand Army Plaza or the one at Fort Greene Park .

• If I don’t have time to go there, I love to shop at Perelandra and Park Natural – two well stocked health food / organic markets in my area that have been around for a long time – I want to support them and they have a great selection. 

"As online business increases and technology advances further, I also think the opposite will continue to become more important - a personal / human connection and products that are special - there is definitely an increase in made to order items, both handmade and high tech (we sell both custom made shoes and zero waste made-to-order high tech sweater knit items). There are also all kinds of other high tech meets sustainable models people are trying out like made in Brooklyn, made to order knitwear and denim with Korra jeans."