Beauty brand Saie started receiving requests for merch a mere two months after it launched, back in 2019. But rather than screenprint a sweatshirt, founder Laney Crowell decided to go a different route.
“I couldn’t pull the trigger on it because it didn’t align with our mission,” Crowell said.
On Tuesday, the brand launched its alternative, Saie Vintage, a capsule collection, curated by three vintage curators. Crowell herself had, in the interest of reducing her own environmental footprint, become more interested in vintage, and wondered if Saie’s take on merch could, in fact, be vintage. It offered a solution to the fact that Saie would not, as a beauty brand, be able to control its own supply chain, as it does not manufacture clothing, the way a sustainably-minded fashion brand might be able to. “It just didn’t make sense for us to be creating what is essentially fast fashion, which, as we all know, is horrible for the environment.
Though Saie only launched two years ago, it has been outspoken about its values and unafraid to make a statement. It was one of just a small few brands to speak out against the Texas abortion ban in September and it joined the CodeRed4Climate initiative the same month. In Crowell’s mind, Saie Vintage is another example of the brand standing for its beliefs. “My mom worked for the Solar Institute of America. I was taught from the time I can remember that we should leave the world better than we find it,” she said. With Saie Vintage, Crowell wants to emphasize the “reduce and reuse,” both of which come before recycle.
“I think we’ve conveniently forgotten about the first two which are much more difficult because we say ‘Oh I’m going to recycle.’ That has actually taken a huge toll on our environment because as we all know, so little of what you recycle actually gets recycled.”
For Saie Vintage, Crowell and her team worked with three vendors, Large Lemonade, Eveliina Vintage, and Kiko’s Closet. Eveliina Vintage is run by the mother and twin sister of Saie social content director Amanda Musacchia. Saie head of community Lauren Lauigan introduced Crowell to Large Lemonade, and Crowell found Kiko’s Closet on Instagram and loved the quirky vendor’s mantra, “If you can’t dance in it, why wear it.” The collections were curated through a “Saie lens,” Crowell said, “We use a few colors. We have our Saie lilac, of course, but we also have neutrals and black.” Appropriately, sweatshirts from Large Lemonade are embroidered with Saie’s sayings like “Feel Good” and “Keep Glowing,” denim jackets are embroidered in purple thread with the brand’s name and Eveliina Vintage dyed a curated collection of slip dresses in a range of purple hues.
All the vendors were excited, and signed on immediately, Crowell said. The drops will live exclusively on the vintage sellers’ own websites, too, though this may change for future drops. This drop was focused on “female-founded businesses — supporting them and helping them build their audiences as well,” said Crowell.
“Aligning ourselves with such a progressive and trailblazing company can only benefit Eveliina Vintage,” said Emilia Musacchia, Eveliina Vintage operations manager. “Being a vintage company is already a sustainable business and collaborating with another like-minded company will only project that message to so many more people.” Prices will range from $38-$295, with Eveliina’s silk dresses on the higher end.
Saie will be promoting the vintage merch on its social channels. It also co-created content with its curators in the form of video in which the vintage sellers show their makeup routines using Saie. The next Saie Vintage drop will launch in January, in tandem with new Saie product. Tying it all together, each Saie Vintage order will come with a free Saie lip gloss, “which is a great way for us to sample to a new audience who I think is going to be aligned with the Saie mission,” said Crowell.
