{"id":2136,"date":"2026-06-25T21:21:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/the-beauty-brand-that-showed-up-for-the-knicks-and-the-women-whove-always-been-there\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T21:21:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:21:04","slug":"the-beauty-brand-that-showed-up-for-the-knicks-and-the-women-whove-always-been-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/the-beauty-brand-that-showed-up-for-the-knicks-and-the-women-whove-always-been-there\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beauty Brand That Showed Up for the Knicks\u2014and the Women Who\u2019ve Always Been There"},"content":{"rendered":"

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New York is still in a fever dream over the Knicks\u2019 championship win, but Laney Crowell, founder of clean beauty brand Saie, has been watching the momentum build for a while. \u201cLast season, I was sitting at a game at Madison Square Garden and just looked around,\u201d she says. \u201cThe crowd was full of stylish and cool women\u2014groups of friends, mothers and daughters, executives, creators. And then I looked at the brands advertising in that space and almost none of them were speaking to them. There was this huge disconnect between who was actually in the building and who the advertisers thought was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, as Crowell sat there in the World\u2019s Most Famous Arena, she decided to close that gap herself. Saie became the Knicks\u2019 exclusive beauty partner\u2014and their very first beauty brand partner in the franchise\u2019s history\u2014for the Finals run, doing glam for the players\u2019 wives courtside, partnering with the Knicks City Dancers and showing up in the storied building in a way that felt less like an ad buy and more like actually belonging there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Why This Partnership\u2014and Why Now<\/h2>\n

Crowell is quick to explain that this was not intended to be a traditional sponsorship. \u201cIt was about stepping into a real cultural moment in a way that felt authentic to who we are. We\u2019ve always leaned into real-life experiences and community, and there\u2019s something about the unscripted, electric energy of MSG that you just can\u2019t manufacture.\u201d Everything about how Saie showed up\u2014sampling in the suites, hosting their community at games\u2014was built around that belief. \u201cAll the way through their incredible championship run, everything we did was designed to create moments our community genuinely wanted to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

The results backed it up. The partnership generated more than 93 million impressions and $404,000 in earned media value. \u201cThat proved what I\u2019ve always believed,\u201d she says. \u201cThe Saie consumer is incredibly dynamic\u2014she loves beauty, just like she does the arts, and being part of the biggest win in New York City history.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Crowell holds a Saie-branded foam finger at a New York Knicks game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Crowell with Brooks Nader and Sarah Jane Nader courtside at a New York Knicks game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Product Born From the Chaos<\/h2>\n

The partnership didn\u2019t just produce impressions, it also produced the new CitySet. \u201cBasketball is high-stakes, high-sweat and all about the hustle, and that energy is exactly what inspired our award-winning CitySet,\u201d Crowell says. \u201cWe literally engineered it to make sure it could survive a high-intensity performance, a fourth-quarter comeback and a humid New York City subway ride\u2014and still look incredible.\u201d The Knicks City Dancers were part of the testing ground: If it could hold through their performances under the lights at MSG, it could hold through anything.<\/p>\n

The TikTok Post That Said Everything<\/h2>\n

If one moment captured what Saie did differently throughout this partnership, it\u2019s this: A creator organically posted on TikTok asking if Saie could get her Knicks tickets. Most brands would have routed that to a PR team, who would have routed it to legal, who would have said no. Saie, on the other hand, launched a full community giveaway within days. \u201cIt ended with a personal video from me to the winner,\u201d Crowell explains. \u201cWe got 250,000 views and 7,000 new followers overnight.\u201d The speed was the point. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of real-time authenticity people are craving right now, especially as AI becomes more prevalent and human connection feels more precious. The brands that win with this audience won\u2019t be the ones with the biggest logo on the court\u2014they\u2019ll be the ones who actually listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Comes Next for the Female Sports Fan<\/h2>\n

Crowell doesn\u2019t mince words about where the sports marketing world is headed. \u201cThe female sports fan is a major driving force of the sports economy, and it\u2019s time brands caught up,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned from building Saie is that consumers don\u2019t want to be advertised at, they want brands to actually show up in culture with them.\u201d Being the brand that kicked off the conversation also, rightfully, really matters to her. \u201cI\u2019m so proud to be the first brand to break that for the Knicks fans as their very first beauty brand partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Saie, the basketball connection isn\u2019t incidental, it\u2019s philosophical. \u201cBasketball\u2014especially in New York\u2014is high-performance and deeply rooted in community. That\u2019s exactly what Saie is,\u201d Crowell says. \u201cWe\u2019ve always told stories about togetherness, and there are very few things that bring this city together the way this game does.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n