Elephant Pants

The Elephant Pants sells lightweight, loose harem-style pants inspired by the comfortable trousers the founders found while traveling in Thailand. The hook was a cause baked into the brand: a portion of every sale went toward elephant conservation, and the company has cited donations of more than 127,000 dollars to wildlife protection efforts. It was started by James Brooks and Nathan Bonifield, who built it from a small online apparel idea into a recognizable cause-driven clothing label.

Brooks and Bonifield entered the Season 8 Tank asking for 500,000 dollars for 10 percent. They emphasized strong sales numbers and the conservation angle, which played well with the room. Daymond John, the apparel veteran among the sharks, was the natural fit and made the deal. The final terms moved off the original ask, landing at 500,000 dollars for a larger equity slice plus an advisory stake, and the founders took it.

The pitch was memorable because the founders paired real revenue with a clear mission, a combination sharks tend to reward. Pairing a comfortable, low-cost fashion item with elephant preservation gave the brand a story that customers could repeat, and getting Daymond, the shark with the deepest clothing experience, validated the apparel side of the business.

The exposure helped sales climb, and the company has been associated with several million dollars in revenue across the couple of years following the episode while expanding its product range and continuing conservation donations. For a time it looked like a textbook Shark Tank growth story built on a comfortable hero product and a feel-good mission.

The momentum did not last. The business ran into internal and operational difficulties, one co-founder departed to pursue other ventures, and the company wound down around the end of the decade. As of 2026 The Elephant Pants is no longer operating as an active brand, so the conservation-pants concept is best remembered as a strong early run that did not convert into a lasting company.