Represent CEO Paul Spencer on global expansion, category growth and brand identity

“When I joined Represent, the boys [founders George and Michael Heaton] had already created something incredibly special,” Paul Spencer, CEO of the British luxury brand said, when asked about his journey so far at the helm. “My role was never to corporatise that or take away what made the brand successful. It was to build the infrastructure, people and capability around them that would allow their vision to operate at scale.”

Since his appointment, the evolution of the business, which Spencer joined as its first CEO in 2022, has been palpable. In four years, Represent has professionalised its leadership structure, invested in international markets and developed its retail footprint and wider infrastructure. Next to this, developments like the introduction of womenswear and the recent Southeast Asia retail debut points to a brand scaling with intent.

It's this mindset that drove the decision to open a pop-up store in Bangkok, Thailand, which Represent will inhabit until April 2, 2027. Co-founder George Heaton said interest across Asia had steadily grown through Paris and Milan showrooms, with the Thai market in particular standing out. “Its creative energy is rooted in culture and expressed through wellness, fashion and music,” he added. “As a global fashion brand, that’s the space we live in, and we’re proud to bring a physical Represent experience there.”

From US to Thailand: Maintaining brand identity while ensuring local relevance

Spencer noted that Southeast Asia as a whole was an “exciting market” for Represent, particularly in regards to demand for fashion, luxury and streetwear, with the potential for a more permanent presence already being mulled. The team, however, is taking it one step at a time. The move into Bangkok provides an opportunity to “understand the consumer on a deeper level and build the brand locally rather than simply servicing the market through e-commerce”.

While Represent may be exploring a new region, what the brand stands for – product, quality, storytelling – remains intact. “What does change is how we activate locally,” Spencer noted, adding that connections with local partners allow the brand to garner a deeper regional understanding that cannot simply be a replica of its store in Manchester. “The balance is maintaining a very clear global brand while being locally relevant.”

A similar approach was taken in the US, which has become one of Represent’s fastest growing markets and biggest growth opportunities. “We’ve invested significantly in building the infrastructure, team and capability to operate properly in the market and, importantly, our founder George is now based in LA,” Spencer said. “We wholeheartedly believe the US can become an extremely significant part of the Represent business over the coming years.”

Signs of what had been labelled as an “aggressive US expansion” earlier this year were evident in the appointment of former Adidas Yeezy general manager Jim Anfuso as president of North America. The leadership change came as a response to heightened US demand across e-commerce, retail and wholesale, as well as increased recognition of the Represent brand in the region as a whole.

Performance wear and footwear present growth opportunities

Anfuso’s task, alongside leading US operations, is to scale the performance category 247, which has been identified as a significant growth driver and “incredibly exciting part of the business”, Spencer said. Launched in 2020 amid a period in which the demand for performance wear spiked with the pandemic keeping people indoors, 247 has expanded into dedicated retail spaces and collections, as well as a womenswear line. Spencer added: “Given the global addressable market and the structural consumer shift towards fitness, wellness and performance, I believe 247 represents our single biggest growth opportunity.”

Similarly, Represent Woman, which was introduced last year with a dedicated team installed to lead its rollout, has shown encouraging signs despite still being in its early stages. Having built up a strong male customer base, womenswear brought the brand to an entirely fresh audience, with new learnings about who the Represent woman is currently ongoing. Its first collection sought to update the brand’s roots in casual sportswear in a “more subtle way”, translating its contemporary essence for a woman who owns her identity.

Spencer added: “We’re not trying to force the scale. We want to build credibility with the female consumer in exactly the same way we built it in menswear: through great product first. If we execute that properly, Represent Woman has the potential to become a meaningful part of the business.”

Elsewhere, Mainline categories like knitwear, shirting and outwear are seeing strong momentum, Spencer noted, as is footwear, which has been identified as a major opportunity and another core focus of Anfuso, leveraging his background at Yeezy. For Spencer, however, the crux of category expansion lies in the overarching mission to continue developing the “Represent wardrobe”, diversifying the brand’s offering to allow the customer to “live in Represent, whether they’re training, travelling, working or going out”.

Europe and Middle East show encouraging signs

It is around this customer group a sense of loyalty towards the brand has emerged. While Spencer recognised that the term ‘community’ may have been exhausted by the industry, he can’t help but acknowledge that there has been a distinct community sitting at the core of the brand from the start.

For that reason, physical spaces have remained imperative to the business, existing as more than simply sites for transactions. “The stores allow us and our community to meet, engage and talk about the brand, product, music and performance. That physical experience creates a level of connection with the brand that is difficult to replicate digitally,” Spencer explained.

What this could look like in other regions is yet to be determined. Beyond the UK, US and Southeast Asia, Represent is also seeing encouraging demand across Europe and the Middle East, with Spencer pointing to organic demand, growing digital customer bases and the availability of the right wholesale partners as key considerations when assessing new markets. The approach is deliberately selective, with the brand looking to establish depth in existing markets while identifying where a physical presence can accelerate growth.

The next phase of growth is therefore just as much about deepening Represent’s foundations as expanding its geographical reach. “The UK remains our heartland and our largest and most established market, while the US is currently delivering some of our strongest growth and has significant headroom,” he said. “The next phase is about depth as much as breadth: continuing to strengthen the UK, scaling the US and then selectively investing in international markets where we believe Represent can build a meaningful long-term position.”

That balance reflects the evolution of the business since Spencer joined, yet the executive is conscious that the work is far from complete. “We’re still early. We’re only 15 years old — still a teenager!” he said. The challenge, he added, is maintaining the “founder-energy, product obsession and closeness to the customer” that created Represent while introducing the processes and discipline needed to operate globally.

Ultimately, the ambition has not strayed far from the same foundations with which Spenny started, taking what the Heaton brothers created in Manchester and allowing it to grow without losing its identity. “We want to build Represent into one of the defining British brands of its generation,” he said. “The opportunity now is to prove that we can take what was created in Manchester and build a truly global brand without ever losing the DNA that made people care about it in the first place.” And, perhaps most importantly: “We need to have fun doing it!”