Manchester Arndale has agreed a deal with the rapidly-growing British streetwear brand, Represent, for its first permanent retail store outside London.
The luxury fashion label has chosen a 5,419 sq ft unit on New Cathedral Street which sits opposite Manchester Arndale and is home to leading retailers including Harvey Nichols, Zara, Paul Smith, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, and Michael Kors.
Founded in 2011 by Greater Manchester-born brothers George and Mike Heaton, Represent’s range of clothing is inspired by retro Mancunian designs and their ranges of T-shirts, hoodies, and trainers, are regularly showcased at top fashion destinations worldwide, including New York and Milan.
With a bespoke store in West Hollywood, and a recently announced planned space in London’s Soho, Represent has collaborated with numerous big name celebrities since its launch, including Justin Bieber, The Kardashians, Zayn Malik, and Gigi Hadid, as well as Manchester’s Liam Gallagher.
After creating several pop-up in-store activations in London and Manchester at the likes of Selfridges, Flannels, and Harrods, the new Manchester store will be its first permanent space outside London.
The Represent store, which is set to open this autumn, will provide a bespoke luxury shopping experience where customers can book an appointment with an advisor who will be able to offer recommendations tailored to their needs.
George Heaton, Creative Director and founder of Represent, said: “We are very excited to open our first UK retail store in Manchester, our hometown and base.
“The Represent Manchester location marks an important and iconic milestone for the brand, having spent the past three years planning physical retail footprints, trailing the senses of energy, look, feel, and scent through our partners such as Selfridges and Harrods along the process.”
He added: “We’ve been on the lookout for the perfect location during these years and managed to come upon this great store in a prestigious part of the city amongst other luxury brands. The space reflects what Represent looks and feels, through the tones, palette it carries, and the textures used throughout the materials used to craft the interior and exterior. The DNA you’ll notice in our Los Angeles store is carried throughout.”
Steve Gray, Head of European Retail Asset Management at Global Mutual, said: “It is fantastic that Represent has chosen New Cathedral Street for its first permanent location outside London, especially given the brand’s history with Greater Manchester.
“Both New Cathedral Street and Manchester Arndale are increasingly seeing strong demand from leading international brands which are seeking high quality, well located physical retail space to help them access our strong customer base. In addition, the arrival of names such as Represent is helping us to provide a strong mix of choice for our customers ensuring we remain the go-to fashion destination for the North West.”
M&G Real Estate and Global Mutual act as joint asset managers of Manchester Arndale and New Cathedral Street while Metis Real Estate and Time Retail Partners are the centre’s retained letting agents, with Green & Partners retained lease advisory agents.