Tara Moss, the CMO of Unless, cofounded the regenerative fashion company with former Adidas brand president Eric Liedtke after he left in 2019 to pursue his passion to create a world where fashion no longer relies on harmful materials. “Throughout my career, I’ve always loved bringing exceptional brands to life in the digital space. But from there, I began to hone in and create sustainable business value in the connected world,” says Moss.
Leading a startup definitely has its daily challenges, says Moss, from QA’ing websites to figuring out how to make sustainable sneaker lace tips that will harmlessly break down when properly decomposed. But she loves working with “an amazing collective” of innovators, engineers, artists and activists challenging the status quo to become a force for good. “We just launched the world’s first regenerative sneaker, which I’m extremely proud of.
Haverhals has a background is in materials science. He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Iowa, and shortly thereafter went on to explore all-natural alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics as an assistant research professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. His work there inspired him to found NFW—so that he could help clean up our world’s plastic problem.