Jerome Mattis, founder of LÈGENDE PARIS, behind the scenes

Our story · Est. 2016, Manchester

Ten years
ten toes
down

Built on music, the city and the people around us.

“I built this twice. Once with a partner, once alone.”

Jerome Mattis, founder

LÈGENDE PARIS is a men's streetwear label from Manchester, started in 2016 and led by founder Jerome Mattis. The name comes from the French word for caption, and every design starts from a caption or a quote.

In 2016 caps were everywhere, at prices that made no sense and with designs that meant nothing to the people wearing them. We wanted a cap that spoke to where we're from, through design and quotes, the same quality at half the price. Two UK streetwear brands showed us it could be done. We built ours from nothing.

From those first caps to fourteen chapters, LÈGENDE PARIS is now stocked at Footasylum nationwide and in independent stores across the UK, and ships worldwide from legende-paris.com.

The people

Worn by

The people around us.

Nothing paid, nothing forced. Real connections with a real brand, built by real people.

See who else has worn LÈGENDE PARIS

Also worn by Ambush, Ishmael Davis, Keemz1Nine, PS HitSquad, Smila, Sneakbo, Smilez, Mastermind, Robbahollow, Booter Bee, Popcorn, Scouse Tremz and Geko.

Where it's from

Manchester

Designed in Manchester since 2016. Our founder is from Longsight, inner-city Manchester. Growing up here taught us the streets, the people, the music and the way we dress, and gave us the mindset to build this.

Longsight
Where our founder is from. Inner-city Manchester, south-east of the centre.
Around the city
2016. Where the first caps were sold.
Deansgate
2018. A chance meeting that led to Footasylum.
Ardwick
2018. Our agent's office and our storage unit, where we met Footasylum.
Rochdale
Footasylum's head office, north of the city.
Cheetham Hill
Our first shop in 2019. Our HQ since 2023.

2016Where it started

Jerome Mattis, founder of LÈGENDE PARIS, with early LÈGENDE PARIS artwork, 2016 — Early artwork, 2016

It started with caps

The first run was 500 caps in four styles, sketched out in a flat in Manchester and released in September 2016.

Every cap carried the same logo on the front and a different quote on the back. That was the idea from day one: a caption you could wear.

The first buyers were people from our area and the areas around it. We sold them hand to hand out of the car, on our own website and on Instagram. In 2017 came our first studio shoot in June, our first cap lookbook in July and a headwear film for Black Friday. The clothing came after, one collection at a time.

Hear the full story on the podcast (opens in a new tab)

Black Friday headwear film, 2017

2018The first collection

Caps became a collection

Caps, tees, hoodies and tracksuits, shot on the streets of Manchester and on a rooftop car park on 7 and 8 July 2018.

That year we met the person who became our agent, by chance on Deansgate. The first meeting with Footasylum was at the agent's office in Ardwick. The second was at our storage unit round the corner, with Footasylum's owner and their head buyer. When the first order came in, it felt like signing a football contract. It was the first time LÈGENDE PARIS went into their stores.

The LÈGENDE PARIS Eiffel patch trucker cap, first collection, 2018 — The first collection shoot, Manchester, July 2018

The LÈGENDE PARIS Eiffel tee from the first collection, Manchester, 2018 — The first collection shoot, Manchester, July 2018

2019Out of the flat

Jerome Mattis, founder of LÈGENDE PARIS, beside a wall of LÈGENDE PARIS caps in the first shop, 2019 — The first shop, 2019

Our first shop and showroom

From a flat, to storage units, to our first shop and showroom in Cheetham Hill in 2019. A small space with a shop front that never ran nine to five. It ran on Instagram: message us and come down whenever it suited you.

2023Cheetham Hill

The HQ

By 2023 we'd outgrown the first shop. Content was going full throttle and we were tired of booking other people's studios, so we built our own. Our HQ in Cheetham Hill puts the shop, the showroom and the studio under one roof. It's where buyers come to see the product and place their orders. Take the tour.

Visits are by appointment only.

Book a visit

A rail of LÈGENDE PARIS samples at the HQ in Cheetham Hill — Inside the HQ, Cheetham Hill

Jerome Mattis, founder of LÈGENDE PARIS, in the studio at the HQ — Inside the HQ, Cheetham Hill

2025Nationwide

Back in Footasylum

Second time round, going back into Footasylum felt right. The timing was better. The vision, the direction, who we are, what we stand for and who we make it for were all clear. It was our time. Now we're on their shelves, in stores nationwide and online. The Caption Jersey in green and black is a Footasylum exclusive.

LÈGENDE PARIS at Footasylum (opens in a new tab)

Road to Footasylum, our mini doc

The LÈGENDE PARIS bay on the shop floor at Footasylum — On the shop floor

The lit LÈGENDE PARIS sign over the bay at Footasylum — On the shop floor

Fourteen chapters

Every collection is a chapter

Each name is a mindset: where our founder was in life at that point on the journey.

All lookbooks

Three LÈGENDE PARIS trucker caps from the first collection, 2018 — The first collection caps, 2018

2027 and beyond

LÈGENDE PARIS was never built to be a moment. It was built to last. The plan is the same as day one: do it properly, in Manchester, one chapter at a time.

In 2027 we take it international. The world is yours: that's the mindset. Nothing was given. Everything was earned.

Headwear returns
Where it all started, back as a range of its own.
Spring and summer 2027
More jerseys, scuba sets and denim.
Made to be kept
410gsm cotton fleece, stone washed denim, metal hardware and branded zips. Pieces to wear hard and keep for years.

Ten years in.
Still built for the journey.