REPS CAPITAL - BUILDING A WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY

FROM A CASUAL PHONE CALL TO A POP UP IN LAGOS, NIGERIA, in just a year- seriously. 

On that call, college friends Folarin (Flo) Okulaja and Mohammed Alausa created REPS CAPITAL. A lifestyle brand built of repetition, that encourages people to put in the work necessary to be great. 

Both originally Nigerian, Flo is now based in the NYC area, Mohammed in Chicago. Through their first year, the two made the brand’s presence felt in both cities. They’ve kept their approach simple: surround yourself with good people, and let the consistency speak for itself. In my conversation with Flo, he reflected on their mindset, partnership, first year of business, and upcoming plans including an event next month in Lagos, Nigeria.

CLARK: First I wanted to say, I know it's been a pretty busy byear for you guys. So what have you guys done that you really want to highlight? 

I’m really interested in the events you’ve hosted and one in Nigeria coming up. 

FLO: Our timeline was we literally jumped on a phone call in January this year. That's when we officially decided that we were going to do the brand. Fast forward to the second week of June, we officially launched. 

Around launch, we did a whole weekend where on Friday night we hosted an intimite dinner with friends and family celebrating the launch of the brand, marking the milestone in a real way. 

That next day, on Saturday, we did our pop-up, which was well attended and a launch party at night. So that was the official launch weekend for the brand, which was also when we dropped  our first collection.

C: That was here in the city, right?

F: Yeah, that was all in New York. Fast forward to the end of August, early September, we did a pop-up in Chicago. We partnered with these two brands called Elevate Social and the Kevin White Experience. They have an end-of-summer party that they throw, and they were gracious enough to let us set up shop there, which worked out really well.

Then we were featured in a show for Fashion Week back in New York. My friend Morgan Mackenzie has a brand called Simply Above Average. She organized a NYFW show that we were part of. The show was great and one of the models represented Reps Capital. 

In early November, we launched and dropped our second collection and did another pop-up here in New York City. Now we’re getting ready for our next pop-up in Lagos, Nigeria to start the year. 

So, that was the year 2025 for us. I'm looking forward to next year. We’re going to do two collections each year, one in the spring / summer, one in the fall / winter. And we will aim to do at least in New York and Chicago, pop up for each one.

And now we're still trying to map out what other pop ups we're going to do, as well as what other types of events that we're going to do. They won't be all pop-up centered, but just trying to bring people out and build the community.

C: Was that the format this year? You guys did two collections–Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter?

F: Yeah, we did. But the way we are naming our collection, we're trying to sound different from, you know, Reps Capital that has some finance connotations to it. So the way we're going to be naming our clothing lines are by the quarter that they drop. 

So our first collection was the 2Q25 collection. The second collection was the 4Q25 collection. And so that's the naming convention that we're going to use. They are essentially spring, summer, fall, winter.

C: What was it like collabing with some of those businesses?

Yeah, it went really well. My co-founder MO is based in Chicago, and he is friends with one of the organizers of the Elevate Social Party. So that was really just an organic connection that happened there, they gave us pretty good real estate to set up shop. And so that was a very seamless partnership that we were excited about, and we're excited to work with them again in the future. 

There's a few different types of partnerships that we're looking for. So we’re looking for partnerships like that where there's ongoing events where we can go set up shop at, add some value. 

C: What is the identity of reps capital. You've told me, but what's the main message you're trying to get across?

FLO: We are a lifestyle brand encouraging people to put in the work necessary to be great at whatever they want to be. That's really the overarching theme of the brand. But we're doing that primarily through fashion. Community building is also a secondary aspect of that. 

So what I think of our style and our brand. It's not going to be something you can put in a box. If you look at our first two collections, they're pretty different. The first one had a polo, it had sweats, it had a boxy crop tee. It's more simple, elevated style. 

You look at our second collection, and it has a button-down, it has a sweat suit, it has the tote bags. And that one is also more, it's more that casual style, but pretty, like the button-down, that is a pretty elevated look as well. 

But looking ahead to our spring, spring-summer collection that's already finalized, it's going to be pretty different from what we put out so far. So when it comes to fashion, I don't think there's a box you're going to put us into. 

We're not a streetwear brand, that's not what we call ourselves because we're not going to do graphic tees and stuff along those lines. But we are going to be pretty wide-ranging in the types of clothes that we do because we want to give people a wide enough offering that you can build an entire wardrobe off of Rep's Capital. And it's stuff that you're going to feel comfortable in, you'll feel constant in. 

And it's going to, along with our mission and kind of going hand in hand, inspire you to put in that work to be great at things that you want to be good at. So what I think about our brand and our mission of what we're trying to inspire people to do, that's exactly what it is.

C: Word. Yeah, that's really well put. Like people, you know, actually being able to do what they love in the clothes. It's like the functionality, they're comfortable, they're, they're cool. They're not too flashy, but it's elevated. 

So yeah, you can definitely see that from y'all's page. Was it intentional with the colors you guys have used? I mean, you guys kind of stuck with more like navy, black, white for that first one. And then with this one, obviously you had like the camo, a few pink things. You guys have, something leopard print? 

F: So, you know, we had the camo happen and everything else was either black or pink. And in the first collection, it was all either beige, cream, or black. And so the first two collections, yeah, really played off of each other as a whole collection. 

But looking ahead to the next one, like teasing it a little bit, it's going to move a little bit away from what people have seen from us so far. Which is kind of the fun part of this; there are no rules. Every time we put out a collection, we get to put our heads together. Figure out what we want the launch to look like and really just go and create that. 

I like what we're building, where people think they have an idea of what they're going to get from us, but then they'll see them and be like, 'Oh, wow, this is different, but it's still really good stuff.'

C: I like that it's you guys aren't trying to say like we're just doing this type of stuff. Of course, you're keeping it open but also trying to stay true to, like, you know, being able to wear it as almost like a uniform for your day-to-day, comfortable stuff. 

F: Yeah, for sure.

C: Can you just speak on a little bit of the manufacturing, working with the right people, any advice that you'd give to people when trying to start a business? 

F: It's funny because I've already had a couple of people ask me for advice, and it's so interesting how I still consider myself such a novice at this. We are not even a, we're just about a six-month-old brand at this point. So we are still brand new. But it is interesting how, when you do get something off the ground, people are interested in hearing what you have to say. 

But I think the very first thing I'll say is the person you start with is very important—and I would recommend starting with somebody. If I look back on the last six months, there's no way I could have done all this by myself. I think two is a good number, especially if you really complement each other. And that's one thing I'm very thankful for, is that Mo and I complement each other very, very well and are both able to travel when needed. So that's the first thing, get a good partner. 

Second, do your research before you get started, but not to the point that you need to think everything needs to be perfect before you get going. Even when I look at our social media page, like there's a bunch of stuff that we posted initially that now we've improved. It was removed because it's like it didn't land the way we wanted it to. 

But just don't be afraid to get started posting, and don't be scared to pivot. I think a lot of people have this paralysis where they want to plan everything out so perfectly before they start rolling out content and putting out clothing. I think that's the worst thing you can do because if you do that, you'll just wait, wait, wait, and then you'll never get it off the ground. So just start, make the Instagram right now, start thinking about posts and putting them out. You'll get some good reactions. 

As far as more of the technicalities around manufacturing, brand building, a lot of that is going to come from doing research and having conversations. And so people out there will probably have someone in their network, whether it's a friend directly or a friend of a friend who's done something like this before. Start there. 

I tapped into my network and the 5-6 people I knew who were in the clothing space. I spoke to every single one of them. I took detailed notes, gathered a bunch of information, then I went out like, OK, I have a pretty solid foundation based on what they've told me. Now with my own additional research as well as AI and ChatGPT, that can very easily be done. 

And then I feel pretty confident that while I didn't know a lot, I knew enough that I could get going. Then I would learn if I went or build the plane as it flies, as we like to say in the startup land, and figure things out as I went.