Allyson Felix’s Saysh Launches Second Lifestyle Sneaker and Scarf
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Saysh has a brand new sneaker — and accessory — bolstering its product lineup.
The footwear brand, founded by Olympian Allyson Felix and her brother and business partner Wes Felix, on Thursday launched its “Saysh Two” lifestyle sneaker as well as a coordinating “Scarf by Saysh.” The products join a roster of existing styles for the brand including the Saysh One lifestyle sneaker and the Saysh Spike One racing shoe.
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“I look at this shoe as being a little bit bolder than our first shoe,” said Allyson Felix, who co-founded the Saysh brand with her brother Wes in June 2021. “As I have found my voice more, I feel like this shoe really represents that.”
After a public split with Nike in 2019 due to frustration with the Swoosh’s policies for pregnant women and mothers, decorated track and field star Allyson Felix and her brother decided to launch Saysh, a “by women, for women” shoe brand focused on building communities.
The Saysh Two features a leather upper, suede tongue and wide satin laces of varying colors. It retails for $185 at Saysh.com and will also be sold at Foot Locker and Athleta within a few weeks.
With this new sneaker launch, Felix said she focused more on everyday comfort and wear as opposed to athletic perfomance, which was a larger part of the intention with the launch Saysh One. All products, however, continue to be designed and manufactured specifically with women in mind.
Throughout 2023, Saysh will focus more heavily on movement and activity, the founders said, though the target consumer will have a more well-rounded lifestyle as opposed to being a professional athlete.
“We want to meet women where they are,” Allyson Felix said. “We’re not looking for hardcore performance, carbon fiber plate, [and things] like that.”
In June, Saysh announced it raised $8 million in a Series A round that was led by specialist consumer fund IRIS and the Gap Inc.-owned Athleta brand, along with Redpoint Ventures and Springbank Collective. As part of the investment, Gap Inc. acquired an equity stake in the brand, and Athleta entered into a partnership to feature Saysh footwear on its website. Allyson’s Felix’s relationship with Athleta extends back to 2019, when she signed on as the brand’s first athlete partner after leaving Nike.
While the sibling duo said there might be room for more accessories like the scarf in the brand’s future, any new product will represent an intentional choice based on a deep understanding of their consumer.
The same is true for the process of selecting wholesale partners. After already linking up with Athleta, Kith and now Foot Locker, Wes Felix said the brand plans to announce another large retail partner in the next few weeks. But Saysh is also connecting with smaller businesses that align with its values as well. For example, Wes Felix said Saysh is rolling out a partnership with Pivot, a recently opened Black-owned wholesale boutique in Ohio, to sell its shoes.
“We have an opportunity to take some of the energy that’s behind us and share it with other other small business owners like us,” Wes Felix said.
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