Le Chat de Mars is a Marseille-based creative studio, founded by French-Japanese duo Kaori Mitsushima and Maxime Cousseran.

Here’s what we do:

  • Surface pattern design

    From home décor to accessories, we create clean, refined patterns. With over 15 years of collaboration with fashion houses in France and Japan, we design pieces that remain simple, elegant, and timeless, perfectly suited to your product at any scale.

  • Illustration & Hand lettering

    Hand-drawn with Japanese brushes, or created digitally, our illustrations and lettering bring a quiet elegance to any project. Each piece carries clarity, character, and a sense of thoughtful simplicity. We can also bring the hand-drawn work into patterns.

For over a decade, we have worked independently, creating illustrations, patterns, and graphic designs for a variety of clients, primarily in the fashion industry.

Our combined experience includes collaborations with French and Japanese brands such as Vilebrequin, Repetto, BAYCREW’S (417 Edifice, Edifice, La Totalité), as well as contributions to fashion magazines including Numéro Tokyo (Fusosha/Numéro Presse), and GINZA (Magazine House), as well as other international clients across diverse industries.

Le Chat de Mars was born out of inspired conversations about starting a creative space together—a place where we could focus on working side by side, especially on pattern designs and crafting paper goods with illustrations designed to bring joy and smiles to everyone.

Lastly, our name, Le Chat de Mars, is a play on words inspired by our love of cats. It may remind you of the Parisian park Le Champ de Mars, but our version adds a playful twist with "The Cat". Here, "Mars" doesn't refer to the planet, but to Marseille, our current home. Essentially, it translates to "The Cat of Marseille".

Le Chat de Mars is ‘The Cat’ that sneaks into your day, bringing lightness and warmth to your hands and heart, as it smiles upon you and your loved ones.