Josh Patner, 58, has happily spent his life and career in the pursuit of creative expression. In 2012, he opened Loveland, a home-furnishings shop featuring the work of local artists and craftspeople in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he has spent most summers since 2002.
Born and raised in Chicago, Josh taught himself to sew on his great-grandfather’s Singer by making puppets to entertain the neighborhood families in a puppet theater built by his father in the attic of their house in Hyde Park. As a teenager, he worked in the costume shop of the renowned Court Theatre, where he developed his theatrical approach to style. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1984, Josh moved to New York City to pursue a career in fashion. He worked for the designers Donna Karan and Arnold Scassi before becoming the women’s fashion coordinator at Manhattan’s legendary Bergdorf Goodman.
For much of the 1990’s, Josh worked as a fashion editor for publications such as Vanity Fair and L’Uomo Vogue. In 1998, he co-founded the cult fashion label Tuleh, which was named Best New Women’s Wear Designer in 1999 by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. In 2002, he began a new career as a journalist, and for the past decade he’s written about fashion and style for The New York Times, Slate, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Observer, British Vogue, Elle, and Glamour, profiling supernovas from Marc Jacobs and Jil Sander to Gwen Stefani and Kiera Knightley. He was also a merchandising and design consultant for Prada and Emanuel Ungaro.
At Loveland, Josh brings his gypsy sensibility and carefree spirit to a unique retail environment that not only has worldly style but also reflects the aesthetics and history of Provincetown.
Portrait by Christopher Brooks