From denim to global growth: PAIGE and HSBC build for what’s next

For more than 20 years, PAIGE has evolved from a premium denim label into an international lifestyle brand spanning apparel, shoes and accessories. Now, as the company looks toward its next stage of international expansion, its relationship with HSBC is helping provide the financial foundation and global reach to support what comes next.

“PAIGE is an international lifestyle brand for men and women. Partnering with HSBC on a global level means so much,” says Paige Adams-Geller, Co-Founder and Creative Director of PAIGE.

For Adams-Geller, that relationship is rooted in having a banking partner that understands both the business PAIGE has built and its ambitions for the future.

Supporting those ambitions starts with understanding how the fashion business works. Brands like PAIGE have to commit to products and inventory months before knowing what customers will ultimately buy, making access to the right financing an important part of planning for growth.

That means PAIGE is making financial decisions about tomorrow’s collections long before they reach stores.

“Inventory needs to be bought way ahead of the exact season, and decisions have to be made on style long before you know if the consumer reacts to it,” says Eric Fisch, National Sector Head, Consumer & Retail, HSBC Corporate Banking.

HSBC’s experience financing consumer and retail companies helps it understand that cycle — and structure financing around where PAIGE wants to take the business.

“[PAIGE] tells us what their goals are for the year, and we try to provide the financial structure to allow them to achieve it,” Fisch says.

That focus on where PAIGE is headed is also what Adams-Geller looks for in a banking relationship.

Increasingly, that vision is taking PAIGE beyond its home market.

Since HSBC became the company’s lending partner, PAIGE has opened more than six retail stores in the U.S. and two in the United Kingdom. At the same time, the company has continued to grow across wholesale, ecommerce and its own retail footprint.

As the business expands across borders, keeping those channels and markets connected becomes increasingly important.

“We try to make sure that everything internationally and domestically is aligned, whether that’s through our wholesale partnerships, our brand new website, or our retail stores,” says Allie Geller Brown, Chief Marketing Officer of PAIGE. “HSBC has been a wonderful partner in making that happen.”

The company is already thinking about where the brand can go next.

“We’re looking to expand beyond the United Kingdom, and HSBC, with its worldwide and complete global focus, is going to be able to assist us,” says Walt Lacher, Chief Financial Officer of PAIGE.

For a growing international mid-market company, entering new markets can bring new financial considerations. The banking relationship that supports growth at home also needs to be able to support the business as its footprint becomes more international.

That’s where HSBC’s global network can play an increasingly important role for PAIGE. With an established presence in Europe, the brand has a foundation to build from as it considers opportunities beyond the UK.

“The PAIGE brand is known in Europe, and we have an incredible footprint there and an ability to support the brand as they continue to grow in the UK, continental Europe, and beyond,” Fisch says.

For PAIGE, the next chapter is about building on more than two decades of growth while continuing to take the brand into new markets. And as those ambitions grow, Adams-Geller sees HSBC as a partner that understands both where PAIGE has been and where it wants to go.

“HSBC has been incredible. They understand what we stand for, where we’re headed,” she says. “I know that they will be able to help us fulfill that vision and that dream.”

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