We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adam Taubenfligel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Adam, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
Customers have come to expect stretch in their jeans. What this means is that every pair of stretch jeans that have ever existed, to date, have been made from crude oil based plastic fibers. This means they will shed microplastics throughout their lives and sit in a landfill for over 200 years at their end of life. Triarchy introduced the world’s first and only plastic free stretch denim. Giving wearers the same level of comfort and stretch without the micro plastics and with a 2 year biodegradation time at their end of life, fertilizing the soil as they decompose.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I co-founded Triarchy alongside my brother and sister with a vision to revolutionize the denim industry through responsibility and mindful consumption. Our brand ethos centers around creating jeans that not only lead with style but also prioritize environmental responsibility. This is achieved by carefully selecting materials, such as certified organic cotton and recycled fibers, while actively eliminating plastic from the brand entirely. Moreover, we takes proactive steps to offset the carbon footprint generated by their production processes.
What distinguishes Triarchy is its unwavering commitment to transparency and accountability. The brand subjects its operations to stringent third-party audits, ensuring that claims of sustainability are substantiated with credible evidence. Beyond mere compliance, Triarchy aims to restore integrity to the concept of sustainability and combat greenwashing within the industry.
Throughout my journey with Triarchy I have come to understand that responsible production practices and consumption habits are underpinned by intention, awareness, and discipline. This realization transcends the confines of the denim industry, which prompted me to advocate for the transformative power of intention and mindfulness in all aspects of life.
Motivated by this belief, I wrote “Setting An Intention: 11 Brief Lessons On Achieving Your Greater Good,” a handbook designed to guide individuals in harnessing intention and mindfulness to pursue personal goals and contribute to collective well-being. My mission extends beyond denim entrepreneurship and I aspire to inspire individuals to embark on their own journeys of self-discovery and conscious living.
My goal is for Triarchy to represent more than just a denim brand; more to embody a philosophy of conscious living rooted in intention, awareness, and responsibility.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
We refused to use plastic based stretch denim in our brand, which as you can imagine was a tough call for a denim brand. But through this resilience our plastic free stretch fabric was born. Had we taken the approach that you had to use plastic to have stretch we would never have contributed to changing our industry. You have to make tough calls and weather those storms to make a difference.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Sticking to a very strict responsibility lens. So many brands out there use sustainability language when it suits them, while not shining a light on all the other areas that don’t benefit from that same attention. If we cant make something responsibly, we don’t, end of story. For all the things we do make, we have 3rd party auditors vet our practices and publish their findings so we can properly communicate our efforts. Brands cant be trusted to speak for themselves sadly, thats where greenwashing comes from.
Contact Info:
- Website: triarchy.com
- Instagram: @adamtriarchy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtaubenfligel/