Twenty Jeans is the brainchild of serial entrepreneurs Corey Epstein, 28, and Mark Lynn, 29. It all started on a fateful flight, where the old childhood friends found themselves seated next to each other en route to the denim capital of the world, Los Angeles. At the time, Epstein was a globetrotting management consultant by day and established DJ by night. Lynn was a “recovering” real estate developer and hotelier entrenched in his newest venture, an online wine company. A few in-flight libations later, Epstein and Lynn found common ground in their business ventures, and not for the first time. It was denim.
One of Epstein’s recent consulting projects was for a multi-national apparel company where he gained insight into the textile supply chain’s fragmented, archaic, and inefficient practices. Lynn was new to Los Angeles and adjusting from New York City’s suit-and-tie culture to LA’s more ubiquitous denim culture. Intrigued, he toured an LA-based denim washhouse and was hooked. The duo decided it was time to disrupt the denim industry with a rule breaking new concept: direct denim. Their combined expertise in e-commerce, textile, management, and luxury lifestyle made Epstein and Lynn a natural fit.
At its inception, the “stealth name” for the project was Denim 2.0, which became Denim 20 after confusion with their first supplier. Twenty stuck, Twenty Jeans was born. Recognizing that an innovative retail model requires non-traditional marketing, they decided to price their first raw denim jeans at $20 just to prove premium denim can be done affordably. “People thought we were crazy. Or, rather people that really knew Mark and I thought we were crazier than usual,” said Epstein. 30,000 pairs of jeans later, Epstein and Lynn are proving everyone wrong.
Epstein and Lynn’s undeniable business chemistry dates back to high school, where they each served as one another’s first employees at their first startups. For Epstein, a passion for fashion and music lead him to create Denver’s first luxury lifestyle magazine, 303, where he enlisted Lynn to sell ad space for him. Only two issues in, the magazine got bought out by its publisher, and Epstein plunged into the world of web design, technology, and e-commerce, building more than 100 web sites for brands, including women’s designer Hale Bob. Epstein then opted for a change and moved to LA to get his bachelors and MBA degrees before starting management consulting at Deloitte.
Lynn and his charming Irish roots made him a natural master of hospitality, so at 17 he built up his own DJ production service and hired Epstein to spin. This was the first company of many for Lynn. In 2003, he formed Jet Urban Development, where he executed over $200 million in new residential development. Shortly thereafter, he co-founded Denver Sport and Social Club, Playcoed.com, Jet Entertainment Group, purchased and sold (at profit) an underperforming ISO called Banctek Solutions, and most recently, Club W, a subscription based e-winery that has become one of the fastest growing wineries in America.
Today, the quickly growing brand is proud to be backed by leaders in the entertainment community, such as Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Seimer Ventures, Baroda Ventures, and Crunchfund. Musicians, comedians, and Hollywood tastemakers alike are among the brand’s fan base, gravitating to the “no frills” fashion forward style Twenty Jeans embodies.
Twenty Jeans is based in Los Angeles, California and helmed by Epstein, CEO, and Lynn, President.
