Project x Paris: The streetwear brand aims for 100 million euros in turnover

Created in 2015, Project X Paris, a French brand of premium and accessible streetwear, is now enjoying great success as its turnover reached 70 million euros. The label is the story of two brothers, Jimmy and Maxime Gov, graduates of Centrale Supélec and the London College of Fashion. In 2015, they embarked on an entrepreneurial adventure together to offer streetwear products that are "accessible and democratic but of high quality, with a premium level of creativity" (as per the press release).

"Our approach: to become the benchmark for accessible premium streetwear by offering the ideal casual chic wardrobe whatever the profile of our customers,” said Jimmy Gov, CEO and co-founder.

Progressively, the brand is carving out a place for itself in the sector by multiplying collaborations with various street culture personalities, including Aya Nakamura and Orelsan - it has more than 70 to date. It has also nurtured a relationship with the rap world by organising various competitions, including 'Your Project, Your Trace', in partnership with French music channel Trace TV, and 'Match Planet Rap', in collaboration with radio network Skyrock. And, it goes without saying, since its inception it has been very active on social networks, including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.

As a digital native brand, Project x Paris has forged a customer relationship management (CRM) base of over one million customers with annual growth of over 30 percent since its inception. The brand quickly banked on both online and physical distribution, with a wholesale strategy from 2015 and its first franchise in Paris in 2016. Today, its sales are both online and offline, with a European presence spread across 60 directly-operated shops (including eight in Belgium) and more than 1,500 major banners such as Footlocker, Intersport and Sport 2000.

The brand's sales have risen sharply in recent years, and are expected to reach 55 million euros in 2022 and 70 million euros in 2023. By 2024, the brand expects to reach 100 million euros. In addition, new openings are planned: Brussels in 2023, London (Soho) in 2024 as well as Paris, Madrid and Barcelona next year.

Beyond Gen Z

One of the company's distinguishing features is its rich range of colours. The label specifies that a colossal amount of work is carried out to ensure that the "chromatic vocabulary is different from what can be found on the market". Project x Paris marries this singularity with a men's, women's and unisex offering a structure organised around four pillars; Comfort, Trendy, Casual and Techwear, and more than 3,000 references.

The brand’s target? Generation Z, but not only. "While we create for our young people aged 16 to 30, our proposals attract a much wider range of customers. There's Gen Z of course, but you'll also see young parents with pushchairs in our boutiques, many of whom already wear the brand and come to buy a new colour or complete silhouettes. Our customers are loyal," said the label in a press release.

When it comes to environmental responsibility, the brand is playing fair. Clicking on the product sheet for a pastel hoodie priced at 59.99 euros reveals, among other things, that the item may release plastic microfibers into the environment, which are "mostly recyclable", but that it does contain recycled materials. As for the manufacturing process, the brand claims that there is no subcontracting and that it is entirely in-house.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.FR. Translation and edit: Rachel Douglass.