SAYE Women's Trainers

SAYE started in Barcelona in 2018, three friends and a Kickstarter campaign, and now makes its trainers in the north of Portugal. Every pair is vegan, with uppers built from corn-based leather alternatives and linings from bamboo and recycled plastic. Two shapes are here: the M89 Icon, named after the year the founders were born, and the slimmer M99 City. There's more in footwear and shoe care.

Where SAYE Trainers Come From

SAYE began in Barcelona in 2018, founded by Marta Llaquet, Lizzie Sabin and Damian Augustyniak, none of whom had worked in fashion before. The first run of 7,000 pairs was paid for by a Kickstarter campaign, and the brand traded as Wado for its first couple of years before becoming SAYE. It designs in Barcelona and manufactures in the north of Portugal, where most of Europe's good trainers are made, and since 2022 it has used only vegan materials. The M89 takes its name from 1989, the year the founders were born, which is also roughly the era the shape is borrowed from.

SAYE M89 Icon or M99 City

The M89 Icon is the shape SAYE built its name on, and the one we'd start with. It's an eighties court trainer with a gum sole and a side stripe, roomy enough at the toe to wear with a sock and casual enough for a weekend without looking scruffy against tailoring. The M99 City is the narrower one, which SAYE describes as a sleeker, narrow fit inspired by the M89, lighter underfoot and finished with vegan suede at the toe and heel. If you've a slim foot, or you want a trainer that disappears under a wide-leg trouser, the City is the better pick. Torn between them, take the Icon.

What SAYE Trainers Are Made From, and How to Keep Them

SAYE says the Icon's upper is a corn-based vegan napa, lined with bamboo and recycled PET, on an insole made from recycled polyurethane left over from mattress production. The City uses the same upper with vegan suede and a recycled EVA insole, and the brand says it funds the growth of two trees for every pair sold. Worth knowing: vegan napa isn't leather and doesn't age the way leather does, so it stays looking newer for longer and creases rather than developing a patina. SAYE doesn't recommend the washing machine, so keep a damp cloth for the uppers and a soft brush for the gum sole.

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