The Guapo Story

Guapo began selling clothes on the internet in 1998, but the story started well before that.

The founder of Guapo, Rein Leopold, found a way to combine his critical eye for fashion with his other passion...computers. 

The result was 'Niceone', a line of futuristic, urban wear he produces to support the global party and club scenes.

Initially he began selling at markets and festivals and before long opened his first store in Amsterdam.

It was profitable and fun, but the long hours and inflation caused by the emerging Euro gave him reason to reconsider his business model .

At about the same time, the internet was evolving and Rein, following it's progress, shifted focus, closing his store and launched Guapo in the summer of 1998.

Following His plan for consistant, stable growth, he moved the operation to Asia and chose Bali as Guapo's base. 

The 'Guapo' Philosophy

Andrew Fleet, the company's general manager, describes Guapo as having a, "Split Personality".

"On one side you have the performance driven, quality centric European business ethics, and on the other, a strong belief in conserving the environment and promoting human rights. 

At Guapo we defy the cut throat business world, where rapid expansion and maximising profit are the only considerations.  I guess you could say we have different measures of success and a more ethical, long term approach to business."

According to Rein, "Being rich and powerful doesn't excuse anyone from from their personal responsibilities to treat each other fairly and take care of where we live.  That's the very least we can do."

Quality, Care and Karma are the core principles the team at Guapo uses in the daily running of the business.

So while Guapo isn't a fortune 500 company or greedily cheating it's way to the top, staff and management alike are content with steady growth, happy customers and doing things 'their way'.