Days in Happy Valley carry a feeling almost everyone knows: that nostalgic feeling of being with all your friends on a Saturday morning, after the wins, the losses, and everything in between.

That’s what the brand Saturday Best is leaning into with its clothing. It takes pieces of Penn State attire that people are getting rid of and turns old favorites into new favorites.

The business idea came from a trip to New York City, when Riley Joslin came across a brand selling hand-embroidered clothing in limited runs at an artisan flea market.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this is really cool. How do I incorporate this into something that I’m passionate about, which is Penn State,'” Joslin said.

Saturday Best has two basic collections.

The first is called “curated vintage,” which includes older Penn State pieces that Joslin crops or alters into a nicer piece. The second is “originals,” where Joslin takes blank vintage sweatshirts and T-shirts and adds his original designs.

The original pieces take the longest for Joslin, as before Saturday Best, Joslin had no background in fashion design or making clothing.

“It’s been a lot of research,” Joslin said. “It’s been a lot of time in [Adobe] Illustrator, testing different concepts and visuals, and figuring out which materials to use. I’ve studied the difference between 100% cotton versus twill, taking sweatshirt scraps, and so on.”

Joslin’s favorite part of Saturday Best is seeing everything come together in real life. Saturday Best is still small and just starting up, but the community has responded positively so far.

“[Saturday Best] is obviously still very small and just started growing, but people are liking it so far,” Joslin said. “A lot of the stuff I’ve been trying to create, I’ve been testing with friends and doing samples, so it’s always really fun to see people’s reactions and the responses so far.”

Feedback from Joslin’s friends, who don’t hold back, has been a huge help in getting everything right.

“I don’t want someone that just tells you, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the best thing ever,'” Joslin said. “I’ve done a lot of design concepts and put like 50 on a Google Form that I sent out to different friends that were invested in Penn State, and just had them rank it, give any feedback they had. It’s been really fun bringing them along for the ride.”

Saturday Best is also trying to move away from the mass production and overconsumption that fast fashion has made popular.

Every piece Joslin sells has a ton of thought and effort put into it.

“Instead of a traditional approach with hundreds or thousands of items, I’m approaching it by really editing down the pieces so everything is thoughtfully curated and crafted,” Joslin said.

By upcycling clothes that would otherwise be thrown out, Joslin hopes to push back against fast fashion and create pieces people wear for years, not once.

That mindset carries into the brand’s social media as well, where even non-product content leans nostalgic. For Joslin, a brand is more than a logo.

“It’s a feeling that you associate with the brand, and I think that’s what makes Penn State so special, right?” Joslin said.

Saturday Best will host its first pop-up shop from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, October 30, at K2 Roots downtown.

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