BEHIND THE BRAND: TARPLEY
BEHIND THE BRAND: TARPLEY
In this post-pandemic world, there’s certainly no shortage of new, emerging brands. We’ve seen a rise in independent sportswear brands, streetwear brands (of course), and more loungewear than you can shake a stick at. However, luxury innovative brands bringing unique pieces to the scene? That’s something we never tire of.
We caught up with Tarpley Brooks Jones, Founder and Director of ‘TARPLEY’ - a contemporary fashion label specialising in clothing made from innovative technologies.
It was great to discuss his background, find out a little more about the brand and understand what TARPLEY has to offer. We certainly enjoyed it, and hope you do too…
What’s your background? How did the brand all come about?
I have been designing clothes for 8 years and TARPLEY is my second brand. From 2014 to 2018 I ran a brand called Samsara Collections in Los Angeles where I made experimental streetwear garments and showcased them at LA Fashion Week, Berlin Fashion Week, and Mexico City Fashion Week. In 2018 I stopped Samsara to pursue my dream of creating luxury fashion with innovative materials at the highest level.
Explain the brand name:
My full name is Tarpley Brooks Jones. For anyone that is close to me they know me as Brooks, but by the government standards, by my bank accounts, by my teachers in school I am known as Tarpley and spoken to as such, a fun paradox that fulfills my Buddhist principle in life of walking in the middle, and the truth is I am both. TARPLEY seemed perfect because yes it is “me” but not “me” while also being a unique one name that feels American adjacent to a Prada or Gucci.
In this current landscape of emerging brands, how do you differentiate from your competitors?
From a garment perspective, we are using new innovative materials like bio-nylons, apple leather, abaca, and others and constructing them in ways never done before. We then focus on making a great garment and iterating upon it instead of constantly changing the product offering. This is all while building a portion of our production base and operating our business in a non-traditional fashion city in Nashville, TN.
From an intangible perspective, we aim to use the brand as a medium for peace and progress, imbuing Buddhist principles throughout our touchpoints with others. This will materialise in unique ways such as creatively bestowing compassion and mindfulness moments to others in non-fashion settings. More to come on this front.
In an ideal world, which stores would you like to be stocked in?
On a bigger scale Ssense, Selfridges, and La Samartiane are my favorites, but I love local stores, I think they provide so much energy to fashion. Notre in Chicago, Machine-A in London, H Lorenzo in LA, and Antonia in Milan are a few that come to mind.
What’s been the biggest challenge for you so far?
When you are starting a brand from 0 by yourself it is always a challenge. Getting people to buy into the vision and trusting you to execute is a task. The fabrics I use are actual partnerships with companies, not just me buying them from a fabric shop down the street. The same goes with the pattern makers and manufacturers, all of who work with top brands in the world in NYC. They don't just work with anyone, you have to know your stuff, and sell your vision if you don't have any work out just yet.
What do you hope to achieve from this collection?
The goal of the collection is to showcase the potential of the brand, and layout a thesis for the future, while connecting with others who can see the vision. The collection happened organically as I was testing the materials, working with different pattern makers etc. and I decided I needed to put it all together as a first showing but as in reference to the 000 title, it still feels like the subconscious of the brand. So I will use the silhouettes from this first collection as standards, tweak them, and I plan on offering a wider range for “Collection 001” in early 2023.
What is a weird fact about the brand that not many people know?
I operate the brand mostly out of Nashville, TN. It is a non-traditional fashion city with different values than NYC where my main studio is, but the energy is amazing here. My goal is to tell new stories in fashion and Nashville is a city that is on the rise in every aspect of life and where I plan eventually to house some of my production along with my HQ.
Your debut collection, can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind it?
The inspiration was really just creating minimal but extremely elegant silhouettes in these high-tech/innovative fabrics with luxury quality craftsmanship. I wanted to combine these 3 energies to make garments that can last in your wardrobe for a very long time, something that grows with you. Then take those tangible qualities and combine them with intangible energies such as spirituality, sustainability, and spreading love as best as I could. Amazing clothes with a great energy behind the brand. As time unfolds I will be able to tell the story of each of these aspects.
What are your favourite pieces from the new collection?
I think the most artistic piece is the puffer hoodie which I have not seen before. I padded a recycled fleece fabric to the brim with recycled insulation and the result is like a down comforter as a hoodie. It is remarkably warm, and I think will serve as a template for the future as I iterate upon it.
The strongest pieces are the coats though: the parka made from apple leather and the trench coat made from organic cotton twill. Both are different garments: the parka has a relaxed silhouette and the trench coat a more structured tailoring, but both feature my sport elements to balance the sophistication and anyone can look good in the garments.
What other products can we expect to see from you all soon?
Technical coats, structured jackets, and alternative down outerwear will always be our expertise, but as we expand my plan is to offer garments in other product categories and hopefully at lower price points.
What are 3 key pieces of information which consumers should take away from this interview?
I have a mission and a vision for TARPLEY. One practical one idealistic. My mission is to create the world’s most compelling fashion by accelerating our world’s transition to sustainable energy. In the shortest possible way of answering what “compelling fashion” means to me is that a farmer in Tennessee, a fashion editor in Paris, and an Ethereum coder in Singapore can all wear the same jacket unironically because they see the humanity in the brand’s energy. How do we achieve this? You will have to follow and find out
My vision is to use creative energy to bring peace and love to everyone and our environment. This will manifest itself in ways that the fashion industry has never seen before because our starting point and ending point is the spirituality of humanity regardless of religion. We can all breathe together.
I have only just released the first collection’s lookbook, so stay tuned for how these stories unfold, because I truly believe it will provide something unique and fun to fashion and the world.
Where do you see the brand in 5 years?
A major brand within fashion telling stories, creating garments, and curating experiences in ways never seen in the industry before.
Take a look at TARPLEY’S debut collection ‘000’ lookbook below and also here and if you want to follow their journey, you can find the brand’s Instagram @Tarpley.us here.
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