It’s a stick up
MANILA, Philippines - Indie local label Polly Patch wants you to wear their heart on your sleeve. Of course, their heart is anything but ordinary, coming in the form of a heart-shaped patch embroidered with a graphic of one bunny ear-wearing Regina George. Unsurprisingly, Polly Patch’s ultra-playful aesthetic has put us in a sticky situation one that involves zingy stickers, pins, and patches. From Bubble Jug pins and Super Soaker sticker packs to patches of our fave film heroines (we’re eyeing the Mia Wallace, Margot Tenenbaum, and Clementine Kruczynski variants), the online store has us feeling nostalgic with old school-style offerings that are equal parts cute and spunky. Not too shabby for a business venture born out of a Twitter conversation. In this YStyle fashion editorial, we pair the colorful ‘90s-inspired stick-ons with graphic blue liner, tiny plaits, and denim clothing from ‘80s-born American brand Guess talk about taking a fashion trip down memory lane.
We sit down with the burgeoning design brand’s pool of young creatives to talk about the shop’s social media beginnings and their supercool take on the childhood-inspired accents.
YSTYLE: How did Polly Patch start?
POLLY PATCH: It all started with a tweet. We’re all design freaks and it just so happened that we were all tweeting the same ideas at the same time. Over Twitter, we talked about making cool products that have a solid brand identity but are still unavailable here in the Philippines. We sort of had a background on the resources so we decided to give it a go, thinking why the hell not? Everything just fell into place.
What’s the story behind your brand name?
Polly Patch is actually derived from ‘poly patch’, a polymer material used for repairing cracks and damages on the pavement (like ‘patching’ concrete). The light pink stuff you see as automotive filler on cars is also poly patch! It started out as a joke, a name we used to refer to our stuff when we still haven’t figured out our brand name. Eventually, however, we found ourselves drawn to the name, mainly because we like how playful it sounds—a combination of ‘Polly Pocket’ (our favorite ‘90s childhood toy!) and ‘patch’, which was what we were planning to sell alongside pins. From then on, the name just stuck. Looking back, we think the name actually fits what we initially thought our products should be: flexible, quick to fix, cost-effective, and versatile.
What inspires your designs?
We’re very much into the ‘80s and ‘90s—decades where the DIY revolution flourished in areas such as design, art, film, and pop culture. We enjoy trying out different styles once in a while and Polly Patch has become our playground for design experimentation. A lot of artists, among them Lazy Oaf and Ashley Ronning, also inspire our works and thanks to pin/patch trading, we’ve even made friends with some of them.
So who would you say is your ultimate ’90 style icon?
We have so many; it’s impossible to pick one! Some of our ‘90s style icons include Drew Barrymore, Winona Ryder, Cher Horowitz from Clueless, and the teenage witches of The Craft. Basically we like our girls powerful, strong, fierce, and sassy.
How would you describe the Polly Patch aesthetic?
The Polly Patch aesthetic is very fun and playful but we also make sure that our designs are clean and sleek so that it could be versatile with clothing and other merchandise. The main draw is really our graphic design work—the lines, shapes, and type design—then we use vibrant colors and cheeky themes to grab attention. This sets us apart from other brands whose designs follow a more DIY or calligraphy-style approach.
What’s next for the brand?
Besides working on more pin and patch design collaborations with local artists, we’re also planning to expand our offerings to include ‘zines, postcards, prints, shirts, totes, bucket hats, and the like.
Photos by PAOLO CRODUA
Makeup and Hair by SYLVINA LOPEZ
Modeled by ANNA BRADBORN of CALCARRIE’S
Stylist Assisted by INAH MARAVILLA
Sittings by MARTIN YAMBAO
Patches, pins, and stickers from POLLY PATCH. All clothing from GUESS.
