Tom's trunks : My Dream Brand
- Kaden
- May 2, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: May 3, 2025
When brainstorming brands I could see myself working at in the future, Tom’s Trunks immediately came to mind. Tom’s Trunks is a unisex loungewear brand founded in 2014 by Tom Holmes, a 14-year-old who had fallen in love with Kikoi (a traditional hand-woven fabric common to East Africa). With intense passion for his brand and inspiration from Kenya, Tom managed to turn his little side hustle selling handmade garments to family and friends, into a sustainably driven loungewear brand with almost 90k Instagram followers and a large range of long lasting and good quality products.
When I first purchased from Tom’s Trunks, I was 16 years old. They only had around 4 or 5 colour variations of their classic lounge pants and shorts and everything was around £15 cheaper. The brand became a staple in the wardrobe for my friends and other schools around my age, but it was seemly exclusive to the private school bubble. Having a pair of Tom’s Trunks was almost like what I would assume was like getting an iPhone when they first came out, it was new, cool, and everyone wanted one. I still have my first pair of Tom’s Trunks, well-worn and barely fraying 4 years later. Since then, they’ve released skirts, shirts, accessories and a vastly wider range of trouser colour and pattern variations. They travel the UK with cool cars and a horse box, selling their products at popups and festivals.
They are very transparent about everything sustainable. Being a small brand allows ease when keeping tabs on manufacturing, delivery, materials and the workforce. In 2024, they became B Corp certified, which means they meet the highest standards when it comes to the sustainability of the company. Some interesting facts I found on their website about their brand were …
100% of packaging is biodegradable, with 80% of it being made from recycled card
Waste fabric is sold for insulation or reworked into off-cut products
All dyes used are azo-free, which means it does not pollute our water
The company only use 3 factories which have a yearly audit, and weekly video calls to check standards are being held
Everything is single-use plastic free!
They have 3 initiatives to invest into slow fashion: a pre-loved marketplace, a repairs service and a circular returns system.
As the world continues to give in to fast fashion and non-environmentally safe lifestyles, it’s important to recognise brands like this, as they lead the path to becoming more actively involved in the protection of the planet, as well as taking accountability of the damage we are causing. As I have watched this brand grow into the success it is today, it would be an honour to work for a company like this, as it’s rare to find someone who genuinely cares for the environment and its staff the way this brand and its owner does.
My ideal career with this brand would be to be member of the team that travels around England to sell the products at pop ups. This way I would be able to create connections with people all over the country and actively promote sustainability, whilst also travelling. Another role I would like to take on would be to oversee the social media pages which would involve posting daily on Instagram and TikTok, creating marketing content like videos, graphics and pictures, writing posts, and keeping up to date with DM’s and emails. Either role allows me to work closely with customers to create a warm and relatable atmosphere and a close rapport with them, as well as promote being environmentally friendly.
Loughlin, Bronagh. “Business Spotlights: Tom’s Trunks.” Institute of Sustainability Studies, 9 July 2024, instituteofsustainabilitystudies.com/insights/sustainable-business-spotlights/business-spotlights-toms-trunks/.
“Tom’s Trunks.” Tom’s Trunks, 2025, tomstrunks.com/.
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