Triple 5 Soul at Cargo Trade Show in NYC

Article written by: Jacob Breinholt
Posted on: July 20, 2009

SoJones had a chance to sit down with Milton Castro, East Coast Sales Executive and Brand Manager for mens and womens fashion apparel brand Triple 5 Soul. Triple Five Soul originated as a storefront in New York City’s Lower East in 1989. Originally entitled with a tongue-in-cheek reference to one of the then-popular telephone party lines, T5S quickly became a focal point for the multi-faceted, quickly emerging cultural movement.

Jake: Milton, how long have you been with Triple 5?

Milton: About 3 and a half years now.

Jake: So, Triple 5 had already gone global, by the time that you came on board?

Milton: Yeah, we got started back in the early nineties and grew pretty quickly. The brand was already very established when I started working for them.

Jake: Like you pointed out, Triple 5 got it’s start as a local name, and the blew up into this global name that it has become today. What is Triple 5 doing to try to maintain its connection with its roots?

Milton: Well, we try very hard not to over-saturate. Triple 5 makes a point of staying with the locally owned shops. It’s true that we also distribute to some of the department stores, but we try to keep it balanced by working with the local guys too. Also, we try to stay in touch with the local scene by doing the smaller shows like Cargo. We do the big ones too. But we like to do the ones that are more roots and underground, also.

Jake: Do you feel like the brand has taken a different direction since Carmella [Ehlke] left?

Milton: Yeah, it has definitely taken a different direction. It has taken several different directions. Carmella left a long time ago [2003], since then Triple 5 has had a bunch of different creative directors. We are constantly changing things up, to try to appeal to both the sneaker collectors, as well as the more contemporary types.

Jake: What are some of the fresh new things that we can expect to see from Triple 5 Soul in the coming months?

Milton: Well, we have moved to a very clean minimalist look. You will see it in our outerwear. All of the outerwear has a new construction that is more true to fit. Before you would have to size up or down, the new stuff is not like that. We have really just cleaned things up, with the logos and details. Really trimmed things down to the basics.