California Apparel News

Committed to service, the Los Angeles–made premium-denim brand Trinidad3 began 2020 with the launch of jeans that allow amputees to adjust prosthetic legs through a 12-inch seam on the inside of the thigh. The style, named Barron by Trinidad3, was inspired by Marine veteran Josue Barron, a Purple Heart recipient who lost his left leg in Afghanistan.

“The challenge was to make something that is rooted in the medical field and make it look on-trend,” the brand’s founder, Trinidad Garcia III, a former sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, said. “This denim was designed to make him look better in something that is unifying and American, like the jean.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the United States in March, Garcia III’s mission shifted to creating face masks. On July 4, Trinidad3 observed Independence Day by announcing a partnership with the Louisiana textile maker Vidalia Mills to create its New American Selvedge jeans with fibers derived from BASF sustainable E3 cottonseed. Garcia III’s sustainable steps were inspired by his military career.

“We had a general rule while I was on active duty and that was, ‘Leave everywhere you go better than it was before you got there,’ and I feel this is carrying over to our design and production process,” Garcia III explained. “It also reminds us of how sustaining the lives of our veterans is a pillar of our own mission in sustainability as the human element shouldn’t be ignored.”

Trinidad3 unveiled its Holiday 2020 collection on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, which also saw the announcement of a collaboration with actor Vincent Vargas and partnership with former Green Beret, Seattle Seahawks player and Merging Vets and Players co-founder Nate Boyer.