When Chester Charles founded Patt3rn Up LDN in 2022, it came from a problem he knew first-hand.
Working outdoors and regularly wearing hats, he wanted to protect his hair without having to rely on a durag underneath — but couldn’t find anything that combined practicality with the kind of streetwear he actually wanted to wear.
That frustration became the starting point for Patt3rn Up LDN, a brand creating satin-lined beanies, caps and bucket hats designed for textured, curly, coily and natural hair.
For Chester, though, the brand has always been about more than the product itself: it’s based in community, self-improvement and the idea behind “Pattern Up”, which is showing up as your best self.
“I’m an engineer, so working outside and having locs gave me an extra desire to protect my hair. Looking online I couldn’t find any cool stylish satin-lined beanies. All I could find was big bobble hats which didn’t really fit my style. A long story short I couldn’t find one, so I designed a few and everyone loved them.
“Our hat designs are quite simple now focusing on sleek styling and hair protection. My logic is if you’re only protecting your hair during the night that’s only 40–45% of your day… what about the rest? Wearing one of our hats will provide protection all day without even thinking about it or having to wear a bonnet or durag outside.
“Our clothing is designed by my friend Lawrence and we do this all in-house. Each piece has a subtle mention to blackness in our design i.e. the Power to the People Tee.”
