Firetrap boss takes Pepe Jeans UK helm

Pepe Jeans has appointed Terry Pearman as UK sales and marketing director. He joins from clothing brand Firetrap, where he was sales director, and has previously held a sales role at Pepe.

Pearman will be responsible for all aspects of Pepe’s UK business, but his main focus will be increasing sales and developing the brand’s retail plans. He will also co-ordinate the UK’s marketing with the rest of Europe. Pepe’s marketing strategy is developed at its head office in Amsterdam.

Pepe director of communications Neil Stevens, who is also marketing director for northern Europe, says Pepe wants to develop its consumer focus and will increase its activity in the consumer press. He says Pepe plans to open more branded retail outlets in London.

It opened a store in Covent Garden last week, two years after closing its flagship store in the area. It has a second London store on Carnaby Street, and others stores in Bicester, Oxfordshire and Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan. It has a concession in Selfridges’ London branch and a female clothing outlet, under the Spirit brand, in Selfridges’ Manchester outlet.

The company has undergone major restructuring and marketing changes during the past two years. In 2000, it centralised its creative and strategy marketing across Europe and moved responsibility to Amsterdam. The UK had previously run its own marketing operation. The changes have coincided with Pepe’s repositioning as a youth brand.