How it Started

Sauce was founded by a former Canadian national team cross country skier as a way to support her ski racing. Sauce founder, Shayla Swanson, was frustrated with traditional winter headwear that she found to be too hot, too itchy & too ugly. An avid sewer, Shayla set out to create functional, stylish and comfortable products that met the needs of elite athletes and outdoor enthusiasts alike.

Sauce started as a hobby for Shayla while she was ski racing and working through her degree in Exercise Science from Montana State University. She began selling Swift Toques to teams and clubs who wanted a custom item for their group. The product line evolved from there, and soon saw the additions of the Swift Headband, Ventilator Headband, and the fleece-lined Chill Toque. After several exciting seasons of ski racing full-time and an Olympic team near miss in 2010, Shayla decided to jump into Sauce full time, putting 100% of her enthusiasm and effort into the entrepreneurial venture.

Commitment to pursuing one’s goals, a strong belief in one’s own potential, and using constructive evaluation for growth, are all important ingredients for a successful athletic career. While skiing and sewing hats are not the same, it turns out that those behaviors are also the key to making it as an entrepreneur. The lessons learned in Shayla’s ski career have helped her navigate the business world and grow Sauce into a company with distribution across North America and beyond.

Who We Are & What We Believe In

Our passion is creating beautiful, high quality and thoughtful products that help people maintain healthy lifestyles. We are fortunate to be headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, where we can field test products throughout the year. Many of our products boast unique features specifically designed for athletic endeavors. Fit and function are as important as a variety of attractive patterns and color options, with original prints embodying our ‘Saucy’ sophisticated style.

Our production systems allow us the perfect mix of cottage industry flexibility and large-scale production capacity. No order is too large or too small, and no reasonable request is ignored or disregarded. We choose to keep things local and domestic, and are proud that our fabrics and products are milled, printed and sewn in the U.S. We admire our specialty retailers and respect their dedication to small business and local economies.

With more than 25 products in the apparel and accessories categories, Sauce is sold at over 200 locations across North America and worn by countless teams & clubs in sports of all kinds. We’ve come a long way from our 4-product, living room-sewn beginnings.

Nothing thrills us more than to see one of our products go running by us on a street or trail or wherever the day takes us. We hope you find a Sauce product that helps get you out and moving. Sauce. Every wear for everywhere.  

If you'd like to know more about how the brand name "Sauce" came about, feel free to click here!