How Represent Scaled Its Luxury Fashion Brand with Shopify

Scaling a Luxury Streetwear Brand with Shopify

Represent launched in 2011 in Horwich, Greater Manchester, when George and Michael Heaton started selling graphic tees inspired by West Coast streetwear. Demand soared so rapidly that their first runs sold out in days. Reinvesting every sale back into the business, they expanded into full luxury ready-to-wear. But as orders grew beyond the capabilities of their original platform, they needed a solution that offered fast updates, easy currency handling, multi-language support and reliable performance.

Challenges of International Growth

By 2013, Represent was racing to serve a global fanbase. Their legacy system demanded manual work for every change, slowing down creative and marketing campaigns. They also lacked local currency checkout, multi-language sites, and a way to link real-time stock between online and physical stores. High-profile releases—especially around Black Friday—threatened to overload servers, risking lost sales and frustrated customers.

Implementing Shopify’s Suite

Migrating to Shopify unlocked powerful international sales tools. Represent launched dedicated storefronts in GBP, USD and EUR, then added German localization to drive an instant 30% boost in conversions. Shopify’s multi-currency checkout, built-in analytics, and scalable infrastructure handled 25x traffic surges on Black Friday and 8x conversion spikes without slowing the site.

Unifying Online and In-Store Experience

Using Shopify POS in Manchester and Los Angeles, Represent tied all sales channels into a single system. Staff can take payments anywhere on the shop floor, customers see live stock across locations, and pop-ups sync inventory to avoid overselling. Centralized dashboards give the team full visibility on sales, returns, and customer profiles.

Results and Future Plans

Today Represent nears £100M in revenue. International sales jump 50%, organic traffic doubled with local sites, and peak days stack millions of dollars in orders. With new stores planned in London and more global drops ahead, Shopify remains the backbone for creative freedom, reliable performance, and data-driven decisions.