When Desyrée Nicole, the designer behind Todd Patrick, first received an unexpected outreach from developers about opening a retail space in Atlanta’s Buckhead Village, she thought it was a joke.
“Ain’t nobody about to buy a store next to Dior,” she recalled with a laugh. “Because at the time Dior, Hermes, Louboutin and Moncler were our neighbors. So we were like, ’How’d y’ all find us?'”
And yet, that leap of faith taken at the tail end of COVID has grown into something far bigger than a storefront. While their original space was roughly the size of a Le Labo perfumerie, today Todd Patrick’s Atlanta flagship stands as a 4,000-square-foot multi-brand luxury menswear destination, positioned alongside some of fashion’s most elite houses, while maintaining the DNA of a brand that was once stitched together in a living room.
“It just shows persistence,” Nicole said. “We’ve always taken the slow and steady approach — making the right steps, not the fast steps.”
Founded in 2016 and fully realized as a brand by 2018, Todd Patrick has carved out a distinctive lane in menswear, one that merges precision tailoring with the raw edge of streetwear. Nicole describes it simply: “modern-day rebel” dressing.
“I always think about what modern-day tailoring looks like for me,” she said. “And then I’m always going to do it my way with an edge.”
That edge shows up in the details — structured denim with rugged finishes, refined silhouettes that refuse to feel too polished, garments that sit comfortably between luxury and lived-in. It’s a reflection of Nicole herself, a self-taught designer who didn’t come up through fashion school, but instead built her skillset in real time.
“I taught myself how to sew… built a brand from scratch,” she said.
That unconventional path has become one of Todd Patrick’s greatest strengths.
Building Without Permission
Nicole’s journey into fashion wasn’t fueled by a traditional roadmap, and she’s never pretended otherwise.
“I don’t think I ever had a vision of owning my own retail space,” she said. “I just wanted to create.”
While she credits much of her success to simply believing in her brand and trusting that she and her Todd Patrick team (her wife, Gabriella Paulino, is COO) are capable of anything, she also cites the importance of doing good business and not getting distracted by what other brands are doing.
“As a creative, I think the hardest thing you need to learn is that you’re on your own timeline,” Nicole told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “When you’re self-funded, 100% equity, doing everything out of pocket, you feel like you have to keep up with these fashion calendars… going to Paris, producing collections. But you’re spending so much money without being able to recoup it.”
Her advice is simple, but hard-earned: stay on your own timeline.
“Going at your pace is cool. It’s super acceptable,” she said. “Until you have the financial means necessary to be on the calendar every single season, it’s okay to go at your own pace and just create dope stuff because you’re gonna get respect. As long as you’re creating stuff that’s your vision and you do your marketing.”
That same clarity extends to the business side — an area many creatives overlook.
“An LLC does not mean a company,” Nicole said plainly. “Figure out how to do good business. Don’t start a company and start selling all this product and you’re not filing taxes. You will get so much farther in life if you just do good business and do right by people… your turn is gonna come.”
Atlanta, Reimagined
While Nicole is a Detroit native and her Todd Patrick brand was born out of New York, its Atlanta presence has become a defining part of its evolution, even if the brand doesn’t quite mirror the city’s traditional aesthetic.
In fact, Nicole says that’s often the first thing customers notice.
“The second they walk in, they know this is not an Atlanta-owned store,” she said.
Instead of leaning into the city’s flashier fashion sensibilities, Todd Patrick introduces something different: understated luxury, intentional design, and education through experience.
“We’re able to show them something new… one customer at a time,” she said.
That physical space has become essential in communicating the brand’s ethos — particularly because Todd Patrick doesn’t rely on logos or overt branding.
“The store allows people to come in and feel it,” Nicole said. “They can see the quality in person.”
It also creates a more inclusive entry point into luxury, something Nicole is intentional about.
“We want people to feel calm. Welcome,” she said. “Even if it’s out of your price range right now, it’s something you can aspire to.”
Culture, Collaboration, and Staying Grounded
Over the years, Nicole’s work has expanded across fashion, sports, and culture — styling athletes in the NFL and NBA, collaborating with brands, and stepping onto global stages like the Met Gala.
But even with those milestones, her perspective hasn’t shifted.
“I don’t think it changed how I saw myself,” she said of her appearance on Netflix’s Next in Fashion. “It just proved what I already knew — there’s nothing I can’t do.”
That confidence is rooted in preparation. Before appearing on the show, Nicole taught herself how to sew on an industrial machine in just weeks, using YouTube as her classroom.
“I literally took myself through a boot camp,” she said.
Moments like designing for the Met Gala or collaborating with the Detroit Pistons have reinforced the belief that the brand has been blessed with divine timing.
“My birthday, Paris Fashion Week, I think three years ago, I went to a club because the Pistons were playing out there… and I ran into the marketing director.”
The exec remembered Nicole from the D1 university where she’d played college hoops, while he’d been VP of marketing.
“I jokingly was like, ‘y’all might as well just give me a collection,'” Nicole said, recalling how the exec took a moment before responding. “He was like, ‘Let’s talk about it.’ And I had a collection that year.”
“It’s like, alright… we moving in the right direction,” she said.
Still, she’s clear that the brand itself is more important than any single moment.
“I felt like it’s always been bigger than me,” she said.
Protecting the Brand While Scaling
As Todd Patrick grows, Nicole remains deliberate about how and where it expands.
The next phase includes wholesale distribution and global placement in select boutiques, but always with intention.
“We want to be in stores that want to tell our story,” she said.
That storytelling extends beyond fashion into unexpected collaborations and cultural touchpoints, ideas that feel authentic rather than transactional.
“I think saying the right no’s gets you the right yes,” she said.
It’s a philosophy that has helped her maintain the brand’s integrity in an industry where dilution can happen quickly.
The Next Generation
For Nicole, one of the most rewarding parts of her journey isn’t the accolades — it’s the impact.
She lights up when talking about young designers, including a 21-year-old whose jeans now sit inside her store, and even her teenage sister, a budding crochet designer whose Faithfully Hooked Creations she actively promotes.
“Bet on yourself,” she said. “If you don’t advocate for yourself, nobody will know who you are.”
It’s a lesson she’s lived firsthand, from cold emails to chance encounters that turned into major collaborations.
And it’s the same advice she’d give her younger self.
“You got the right idea,” she said. “Stick with it.”
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