The Former Football Pro With A Viral Fashion Empire

In 2007, Reece Wabara seemed to have the professional football world at his feet. The Bromsgrove-born defender was plucked from the relative obscurity of Walsall’s School of Excellence by Manchester City. Wabara eventually penned terms on a professional scholarship 12 months later.

He soon captained City’s team at various youth levels before becoming a key component in the club’s Elite Development Squad. In 2011, Wabara then represented England at U19 and U20 levels. 

Loan spells with Ipswich, Oldham, Blackpool, and Doncaster followed, but City’s meteoric rise in the Premier League meant Wabara’s first-team chances were limited at the Etihad Stadium. Wabara was released in 2014 by mutual consent, with brief spells at Doncaster, Barnsley, Wigan, and Bolton following over the next three seasons.

Wabara’s exit from the football world

In 2017, Wabara took the brave decision to retire from professional football. The decision was to focus more heavily on his clothing brand founded in 2013, 12 months before leaving City.

While Wabara has been busy growing his business, his former employers, Manchester City, are in the midst of a legal battle with the English Premier League. The club has been charged with dozens of breaches of the league’s financial rules. It’s so serious that City could yet be given enough of a points deduction to relegate them. That’s why Pep Guardiola’s side has been priced as short as 14/1 with Wildz to be relegated this season, which is a shorter price than fourth-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers.

From Wabara’s perspective, his brand, Maniere De Voir, has posted some impressive revenue figures in recent years, with no such fears of similar fiscal penalties to City. In 2022 and 2023, Maniere De Voir was rated as one of the UK’s fastest-growing companies in the private sector. The Sunday Times also ranked Wabara 19^th on their so-called ‘Young Rich List,’ listing his net worth as £83m. 

That makes Wabara wealthier than almost every active Premier League footballer. The Maniere De Voir brand was launched while Wabara played on loan with Doncaster Rovers. He joined forces with his long-time friend, Liam Morgan, going into partnership to launch this startup and ensure its long-term sustainability.

Growing Maniere De Voir from the ground up 

In the earliest stages for the brand, Maniere De Voir focused largely on branded hoodies, tracksuits, t-shirts and other leisurewear. Wabara had the advantage of using his contacts in professional football to model some of his newest collections too.

Wabara had cultivated an impressive social following for Maniere De Voir, growing the brand’s Instagram follower base to more than 300,000. This was the year the brand really took off, aided by Wabara’s football contacts once again. England international forward, Raheem Sterling, was snapped wearing Maniere De Voir gear, as was world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua. 

By 2019, sales were on the rise, and the company broke the million-pound barrier in profit for the first time. In 2020, that profit grew three-fold, despite revenues only doubling. It marked a meteoric rise for a brand that Wabara invested just £15,000 of his own capital in. It’s even more impressive when you consider the brand was launched on Shopify and scaled using Facebook Ads.

What’s most striking about the success of Maniere De Voir is the brand’s profit margin. Many brands struggle to post profits of more than 10% from their top-line revenues. Maniere De Voir is an exception to the rule.

In December 2023, Wabara was interviewed by The Sun and disclosed that he now makes £35 million a year. The online growth convinced Wabara to double down and open a flagship retail store in the heart of London’s Oxford Street. The launch coincided with the brand’s 10-year anniversary.

Wabara’s passion for the brand and its longevity is such that he forked out more than £9 million to buy out Liam Morgan’s stake in the business. He is living proof that there is life after professional football.