The Robinson company, the passion for manual work

It was during the Expo Fait au Québec that I had the opportunity to talk to Patrice Didier, founder of the Robinson Company . It is with passion that he told me the little story behind the company he founded, almost six years ago.

Create with your own hands

As far back as he can remember, Patrice has always been drawn to manual work. From a young age, he spent whole days with his maternal grandfather, Marius Robinson, "patenting" furniture and shoveling earth for earthworks. This interest in manual work and creation has always remained with him, although he has moved away from it somewhat throughout his career.

While working in marketing for a large tea company in Montreal, he dreamed of leaving the metropolis to settle closer to nature, in the Eastern Townships. He was therefore looking for a project that would allow him to gain autonomy in the region. It was to wood that Patrice first turned to revive this passion for manual work. Living in an apartment in Villeray, he was however constrained by the space and felt that he could not fully work on his creations. Then he heard about a project in the United States that immediately appealed to him. A group of craftsmen working leather, the old fashioned way, in their garage. It clicked at that moment!

Patrice wanted to create objects that would last over time, while being respectful of the nature that surrounds him. The use of leather, like that of wood, gave it all its meaning!

The Robinson Company had just been created.

A legacy from generation to generation

As Patrice so aptly puts it, “Robinson is the legacy of a man who left behind the memory of the feeling of accomplishment through manual work”. Wanting to pay homage to his greatest inspiration, his grandfather, he wants people to be able to leave, in turn, to their children, an object that would have been used all their lives. This is why the products developed have a simple, classic, timeless design that becomes more beautiful over time.

A transparent creation process

With a view to transparency and in order to offer customers a product at the best possible price, without neglecting quality, it was important for La Compagnie Robinson to reduce the number of intermediaries as much as possible.

Wishing to work only with vegetable-tanned leather, a method that uses natural materials such as mimosa and quebracho in the transformation process, rather than harmful chemicals, Patrice took almost a year to find a tannery offering quality vegetable tanning. It is indeed not easy these days to find producers experienced in this type of tanning, since the process is much longer and much more expensive.

Find the beauty in the detail

Entirely handcrafted, La Compagnie Robinson products are inspired by the great outdoors of North America. They are inspired by those who make their passion a reality and who surpass themselves every day.

Recently, La Compagnie Robinson has set up shop in the heart of the village of Sutton in the Eastern Townships. This meeting place gives Patrice and his girlfriend the opportunity to share their passion not only with passers-by, but also with loyal customers who sometimes travel just to come and say hello and chat human to human.

Patrice is certainly a dreamer and an adventurer. A project that he would like to accomplish with the brand would be to be able to go on a trip, with his little family, to meet other entrepreneurs, couples, who have opened a small independent shop and with whom he could collaborate on new projects. and organize “pop-up stores” to show his work on a larger scale.

My meeting with Patrice was brief, but very inspiring! I invite you to discover this wonderful company via their member profile and all their products on their website.

Revisited October 2022