If you’re not familiar with George Heaton, you should be. From school project to garden shed, to over 150 high-end shop windows, luxury streetwear brand Represent has now burst onto the fitness scene with its latest collection, 247.
What started out as a creature of local creativity grew to become a global fashion giant. Founded in 2021 by George and Mike Heaton, British-born luxury fashion label Represent was seeded with just £150 and now boasts over 150 stockists worldwide.
Frankly, George is a fucking ingenious genius. Represent continues to scale as the brand that adorns flexible living. Pushing himself to the limits as the multifaceted businessman inspired by a flare for fashion that fits around an active lifestyle, George is now at the helm of the latest collection, 247, opening the brand up to the world of fitness and wellbeing.
“247 became a part of the brand in 2020 during the COVID lockdown,” says George. “My time opened up and I got into running and fitness and that’s when I designed the 247 pant. I found there was a gap in my wardrobe for a piece that could carry through running, training, the office, going out – literally anything. This pant became perennial and a statement for the brand. So, naturally, we wanted to evolve the collection and the word 247 seemed so fitting for this arm of the brand. It’s all about carrying our aesthetics of the Represent DNA and transferring them into training specific products and it gives us the freedom and authentic ability to collaborate with great players within the fitness industry, not just in fashion.”
You heard the lad; part ways with the Playstation and find your movement mojo. It could just lead to the business boost you need to knock 2024 out of the park.
“Putting fitness in the top three on my priority list has been the balancing factor,” says George. “It wasn’t always this way, but as I self-developed over the years I figured out that health and wellbeing and putting myself through hard, physical tasks played a huge part in the business.
“Whether it’s turning on the nerves for HYROX, or piling on the pressure to host thousands of attendees for our multi-city run clubs, I’m always testing my own discipline and pushing the boundaries of my fitness levels.”
George never planned on becoming an entrepreneur as a child, but appears to have effortlessly acquired enough business acumen to power the planet. So if you’re short of cash, maybe just buddy up and build on it…
“I never hired a business advisor,” he says. “Mike and I built a solid foundation of profitability as we had no other option. We had to make the business work without investment, which took a very long time. The growth was slow and steady. This served us well in the sense that along the way, we put ourselves through all the job roles within the company, encountered endless different business situations and acquired knowledge through hands-on experience.
“The business eventually outgrew my ability to handle anything outside of my role as CEO. I hired a creative director at that point to prevent the natural growth curve of the business from slowing or reaching a plateau.”
Got a great idea but not sure others will feel the same way? Just trust your own instincts and crack on if these lads are anything to go by!
“The designs remain fundamental to what Mike and I want to wear ourselves,” says George. “Every piece the brand puts out there is something we personally find interesting, comfortable, unique or missing from our own wardrobes. We always like to trial and test pieces too, and we’re always searching for the next thing as we mature as designers.”
Having secured prime floor space in the iconic London Harrods store, George attributes the retail success of the brand to high end manufacturing. And at Loaded, we always check the label.
“We produce meticulously designed items in the greatest factories with the best materials,” he says. “All whilst keeping our margins attainable. This leverage gives us great results within retail spaces, because the physical product stands out. The Harrods installation in particular was a huge landmark for us. Having our own dedicated space within the world’s leading luxury store is a dream come true. It’s been an incredible journey; we started out designing products in our parents’ garden shed and now they’re for sale in Harrods! We’re even launching an exclusive capsule collection with them.”
If you feel as if your back is against the ropes but you’ve still got some spark in you, take George’s sound advice to beat the knockdowns and go the distance.
“Failure is all part of the learning process,” he says. “We’ve failed on numerous occasions, but we fail fast and learn quickly. The market is unpredictable and data alone will not work in fashion, so failure is inevitable. Being nimble and able to test products is the key to success.
“When we were starting out and were using unknown suppliers, I once placed an order for 10,000 pieces of denim. The items arrived with the distressing the wrong way around, and it absolutely killed me. We ended up re-distressing every single pair by hand. Then there was the ‘Dusk Boot’ disaster. We were off to a flying start when the boot sold out within seconds, but we didn’t understand how to project numbers and could have gone a lot bigger. For the second batch, we incorporated suede into the design that didn’t hold up well in the tongue of the boot. So, after under-ordering the first time around, we had to recall most of the subsequent batch.”