In 2021, when “clean” makeup brand Saie was getting requests for merch, it answered with a collection of curated vintage pieces embroidered with the brand’s name. The intention was that fans of the brand, which launched in 2019, could wear their affinity in a unique way.
“Most merch you see is fast fashion, which is incredibly harmful for the environment in the way it’s made and dyed and produced and discarded,” said Laney Crowell, founder and CEO of Saie.
Since then, the brand has released new collections of branded vintage styles every quarter. They’re sold on its e-commerce site on a page labeled Merch, which currently shows a sold-out denim jacket, as well as some more traditional merch included a branded Nalgene bottle and two branded cosmetics cases.
Now, in tandem with an upcoming vintage drop and timed to Earth Day, the brand is releasing “The Saie Way: A Climate Docuseries,” focused on its commitment to sustainability. The brand participates in certification programs including 1% For The Planet, which involves donating 1% of its proceeds to various environmental non-profits. It’s also Climate Neutral Certified, meaning it offsets its carbon footprint, and is Certified Plastic Negative — for every product sold, it contributes to removing more plastic waste from the environment it has created.
The first episode of the series, dubbed “Trash is Treasure,” focuses on Saie’s continued vintage merch initiative. It follows Crowell and Lauren Lauigan, the brand’s director of community, to a vintage rag house in Los Angeles.
“One of my favorite content pillars is showing all the work that goes on behind the scenes [at Saie],” Lauigan said. “I couldn’t wait to show the visualization of the amount of clothes [we] dig through. It paints a clear picture [of the fact that] there are enough clothes on the planet to dress the next six generations of the human race.”
A later episode will highlight the brand’s work with a nonprofit called Coral Restoration after an unprecedented spike in ocean water last summer threatened the coral supply. “Without coral, we don’t have fish, and the entire [ocean] ecosystem collapses,” Crowell said.
The series has been produced by Saie’s internal team, including Crowell, Lauigan a videographer and a writer. The brand has produced six episodes, which will be dropped on a monthly cadence. Each is about six minutes. As the original plan sparked additional ideas, Crowell said more episodes may be made. Crowell declined to comment on the investment in the series. From 2022-2023, Saie saw a 140% increase in retail sales growth.
Across platforms, the brand has over 1 million followers, including 368,000 on Instagram and nearly 500,000 on TikTok. It will feature the series on its Instagram and TikTok, in its email newsletter, and on its website. As for other sustainability-focused initiatives, Saie’s first-ever sustainability report will be released this year.
