The Interview: Prohibited co-founder Patrick Reimann on breaking into the UK market through ASOS

Patrick Reimann and Philip Krause founded Prohibited in Berlin in 2021 as a "TikTok-first" streetwear brand. It came out of frustration with the development of the streetwear scene with its "fake flex and gangster poses", as well as hype about limited-edition drops. That wasn't their style, which Reimann (pictured right) describes more as "modern Yuppie", combining streetwear with sporty elegance.

In the beginning, they had no idea about the industry, but started selling basic T-shirts and hoodies on Amazon, sent from their apartment in Berlin as they built up a community via TikTok. With a focus on quality and fit, the project grew quickly.

Today they employ 20 people and are represented in over 200 stores, as well as through online fashion partners such as Zalando and About You in Germany and, more recently, ASOS in the UK.

The launch on ASOS for AW24 saw Prohibited become the second most successful brand launch in the men’s sector for the online retailer after Carhartt. That’s some going. Patrick Reimann tells us their story so far.

When and how did you start Prohibited?

We founded the company almost five years ago, so we’re still a young company. We only started selling our first Prohibited branded T-shirts and hoodies three years ago, building it up via TikTok. We’ve experienced quick growth in that time. As we are still a small company, we do everything ourselves, from sourcing and designing to running our warehouse and controlling stock.

What’s your take on UK streetwear and how do you fit in?

I follow the UK market quite closely for inspiration. It’s important for club culture and music, and there are some excellent UK brands. I saw an opportunity for us to try to conquer the UK because I think the style is quite similar to the German market. It’s also a lot easier for us language-wise compared to say France and Italy.

I’ve always followed the likes of Represent and Cole Buxton, which started on social media and have now got really big. I’ve noticed that in the past couple of years Represent has started to increase its prices, so my thoughts are they might lose some customers who can’t afford a hoody for £150. That’s where we see an interesting opportunity because our prices are very competitive – retailing between £60 and £75. Perfect for someone who wants that Represent or Cole Buxton look but can’t afford it. That’s why we’ve been looking at the UK from the start.

Where do you currently sell in the UK?

We met with ASOS in London in May last year and we sold with the online retailer for the first time for AW24. The numbers were good from the get-go. Its buying team were recently over in Berlin ordering for AW25, and they told us we were the second best new menswear brand ever after Carhartt. They are very happy with what we do and have increased their budget with us every season since, so we’re looking forward to extending our partnership. We’re also going to launch with ASOS in the US, which will be our first endeavour there.

How did you go from direct-to-consumer only to selling through retailers?

We were originally very much coming from a direct-to-consumer perspective via TikTok and selling online through our own website, but then at the end of 2023 we got some ‘inbound’ requests from some small sneaker stores in Germany that were mainly selling ‘hype’ shoes. They had come across our product and asked us if they could sell some of our basic tees and hoodies in their stores. It turns out they sold really well. My partner, Philip Krause, then took over the wholesale business and started going ‘outbound’. We started supplying ten stores in early 2024 and ended up with 215 stores overall – the majority in Germany, but also in Austria and a couple in Italy.

We don’t currently supply any physical retail stores in the UK, but we will be selling with another major UK retailer from August 2025 as we had positive talks at the last Pitti Uomo show in Florence, and also at CIFF in Copenhagen - though that was mainly with potential Scandinavian accounts.

Was Pitti a good show for you then?

Pitti was a huge success, we didn’t really expect anything quite like that. We actually showed at Pitti for the first time at short notice in January 2024, but we didn’t really know what this business is all about! However, this year (the January 2025 show) we upgraded our booth and had a much stronger autumn/winter collection. We served free coffee and had something like 450 people coming to look. There was also an article about us in an Italian trade publication, which was great, as we got 50-plus stores in Italy interested in stocking Prohibited. Over all, we ended up with over 150 potential new customers from different countries, which we have been following up with since.

Is it all tees and hoodies?

A lot of our appeal has been around that entry level price point of basic tees and hoodies, however we do also have slightly higher price point fashion items, including knitted jerseys and jackets, that could potentially be of interest to the likes of END, even though we do sit below the premium level of brands like Represent and Cole Buxton. I think what END does well is have price points across the board. We’ll have to see if they like our products.

As the designer, how would you best describe the Prohibited look and style?

As we started as a streetwear brand with basics such as T-shirts and hoodies, we really focused on getting the fit and fabric right. However, from the start we tried to make it look and feel like a brand, not like a Uniqlo-style basics supplier. We sit in a sphere of streetwear brands but a lot of them, particularly in Germany, position themselves as "gangster" – using hoods and ski masks in their imagery. We always thought streetwear doesn’t have to be about that. Our approach is you can mix it up and maybe add a bit of vintage Ralph Lauren style into it. It makes it a whole different look without losing the streetwear element. We try to combine those two worlds, classic streetwear with oversized hoodies with a touch of a more preppy Polo Ralph Lauren-type look. We’re also trying to show young streetwear customers, as they grow up, how they can dress a bit smarter without losing that streetwear touch. In a way, we offer that kind of Aimé Leon Dore aesthetic, but we’re making it accessible for everyone.

How else are you growing the business?

We look at our Zalando numbers and our ASOS sales and see where the clients come from, and we also see it from our own website. Since we launched with ASOS in the UK, we see a lot more people coming to our website as well. That’s a real sign that people like the product and they want to find out what the brand is all about and see if there is more product that perhaps ASOS doesn’t carry. The data we’re getting is really interesting for us in terms of where we should be trying to grow the business, and which partners we should be targeting internationally.

Will you also be targeting smaller independent streetwear-focused stores in the UK?

We will be looking at that, but we don’t work with any agencies so far. With Brexit, it’s a bit complicated to get stock over to the UK and not pay double duties and things like that. ASOS is big enough to ship its units directly from the manufacturers to the UK, which helps. For smaller stores, it’s a bit more tricky because the numbers might not add up. However, a strong part of our business has been the never out of stock (NOS) programme – stock we carry in our warehouse that can be replenished quickly. That’s something that we would want to offer, especially for small stores that don’t have the capacity to order that much. Once we have two or three bigger clients in the UK, it might make sense for us to think about having some stock over in the UK ready for all our clients there. The small stores are the backbone of our business in Germany, so it would be good to be able to offer smaller UK retailers some of our products too.

Are you looking to take agents on for different countries?

Our strategy in Germany is to handle wholesale ourselves as it’s easier for us and we know all the main retailers already, the same with Austria and Switzerland which have the same language. In Italy, they don’t have the store chains, they only have those smaller independent shops. To manage all those small shops and not speak Italian is quite hard! So, we’re looking at taking on an agent who knows all the right stores – and the ones who pay on time!

By looking at which brands are popular in specific countries, I think our product will work throughout Europe, so I think it’s a big opportunity to take on agents who know their own markets.

Are you planning on opening a Prohibited store in the future?

I’m the designer and I take care of all the online business, but I used to work in a clothing store for three years from the age of 16, so I’m still in love with own retail. However, it is a whole different business to do retail on your own. As we are a small company and do everything ourselves, we don’t want to try to do too much at the same time. We want to make sure the business runs smoothly, and we can handle the growth. Having our own store would be great, and it’s been interesting to see online brands starting to go offline as well. We have a big reach on social channels, but if you have a physical store you get a whole different experience, so it is something I would love to do, particularly in Berlin. Going forward, we may also look to do a pop-up store in London.