By the time Marianna Sachse’s active son was 4 and stopped receiving hand-me-downs, she knew something was wrong with the children’s clothing industry. Nothing held up beyond a couple of months of typical childhood wear and tear. Marianna was frustrated with the waste and cost of replacing poor quality clothes, and how it contributed to fast fashion’s title as one of the largest polluting industries in the world.
⁠
⁠Determined to do something about it, she founded Jackalo in 2018 with the mission to make better quality organic garments and change the way we buy and use children’s clothes for a better planet. With the motto: “Strong enough for active kids, gentle on the environment,” Jackalo is a family-run business that focuses on environmental sustainability.
⁠
⁠“Our goal is to make it possible for families to dress their kids sustainably and to really minimize clothing waste. Circulatory is central to our mission: we buy back the clothes when they're outgrown to be renewed and resold or responsibly recycled. So sustainability is absolutely central to Jackalo’s brand,” Marianna explains. 
⁠
⁠The first fully circular kids brand in the US, Jackalo offers tradeUP to all their customers. When kids outgrow an article of clothing, parents can send it back for a discount on their next purchase. Jackalo cleans, repairs, and resells the pre-loved item discounted on their site, or recycles it. This business model keeps quality clothing out of the waste stream, offers affordable options, and solidifies customer loyalty.
⁠
⁠With the goal to grow Jackalo, Marianna is focusing on finding investors. She’s also doubling down on what’s working by expanding color options on a top-selling, customer favorite product. Learn more about Marianna’s journey to sustainable entrepreneurship at the Weekly Campfire.