In episode 503 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Marianna Sachse, founder and CEO of Jackalo, the first circular childrenswear brand focused on creating durable, eco-friendly apparel. Sachse describes her inspiration for founding the brand — a difficulty finding comfortable, sustainable, long-lasting pants and hand-me-downs for kids four and older (2:00). She details early trade-offs in material selection to balance durability with recyclability and skin sensitivity, testing prototypes on her own children (5:20). Sachse shares lessons from integrating resale onto Jackalo’s own site to enable mixed new/pre-loved carts, boosting average order value, repeat purchases, and trust (9:00).
Additionally, Sachse identifies millennials as Jackalo's core shoppers, noting their interest in environmental and health concerns (14:30). She emphasizes that Gen Z is especially comfortable with secondhand shopping, suggesting demand will grow as they become parents. In her closing advice, Sachse says brands should first ensure products are durable enough to outlast one customer before investing in circularity (19:30).
Jackalo was founded by Marianna Sachse, whose journey combines a passion for sustainability with a deep understanding of systems-level change. With a background in public health and social work focused on communication, Marianna has always been driven by the belief that health and well-being are shaped by our environment, access to reliable resources, and economic stability. This perspective inspired her to think about how she could create meaningful change. When her first child outgrew the hand-me-down phase around age four, Marianna noticed a major problem: children’s clothing wasn’t built to last.
Frustrated by the wastefulness and environmental impact of disposable clothing, Marianna set out to create a solution. She has brought her craftsmanship and eye for timeless design to fundamentally redesign how kids clothes are made: to be strong enough for active kids while being gentle on the environment. In 2023, Marianna was named a Nasdaq Milestone Maker, a project of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center highlighting the work of founders that are making an impact on the Sustainable Development Goals. She was also selected to participate in the prestigious Techstars Accelerator.
