My name is Leo Spektor, and I’m the founder of the clothing brand Banan, whose story began back in 2009 in Kiev, Ukraine. Today, my goal is to relaunch the brand and reshape the global affordable premium essentials market. My long-term objective is to build Banan into a €10 billion brand, capturing up to 5% of the €200–300 billion global affordable premium segment over the next decade.

I believe the clothing market still hasn’t fulfilled its potential when it comes to customer experience, and there’s a great opportunity to create an experience far beyond what the average affordable premium market can offer — especially compared to mass-market standards.

Also, I believe there is room for personalized clothing for every body — we all have different shapes and forms, and most brands don’t cover the precise needs of each individual. By offering many variations of each model — different widths, lengths, and fits — to suit a wider range of body types, we can reshape this landscape as well.

The cherry on top will be the premium quality of our garments that will last much longer than typical mass-market prêt-à-porter clothes, and exceptional marketing — it will capture people’s minds and make them want to be part of the story we are creating.

Before we dive into the strategy, let me share a bit of the brand’s backstory — because it already has roots and a journey worth building on.

The story of Banan began in 2009. It started with my collaboration with a Kiev designer who created distinctive artwork, and I proposed to make a t-shirt collection together. Since then I started working with different artists who were creating prints, and I was building a t-shirt brand. After a few years, I decided to expand the line with other basic garments, and this continued for around 3 years. It was a local brand that gained some real traction, but later I decided to switch to another venture.

In 2016, when I was 25 years old, I returned to Banan with a clearer vision — to build an international basic clothing brand. My big inspiration at the time was Kanye West and his Yeezy line. I was fascinated by the idea of creating something affordable, yet high-quality, that would be widely loved and worn. I launched a couple of new collections, and sales were strong. But unfortunately, I didn’t manage to find an investor at that time, and with small-scale production, the venture wasn’t very profitable. So once again, I left the brand behind and moved into IT. Since then, I’ve worked as a Product Designer in various companies and across different countries.

Now, living in Austria, I feel this is the perfect moment to bring Banan back — with a bold vision to build it into a globally recognized essentials brand. With hands-on experience building a fashion brand, combined with years in tech as a Product Designer, I believe I now have the insight, resilience, and execution power to build a great fashion brand with the potential to shift the global market and set new rules.