How a Kentucky-Born Musician Used the Pandemic to Launch a Fashion Brand from Bali

“When you have this young woman teenager pouring out her heart, we’re all just ready to receive it,” says David Metzer, a music historian at the University of British Columbia. This is especially true, he speculates, when emotions are running high during the Covid-19 pandemic. “We’re all so touched by it, because we can all still see ourselves not only as brokenhearted teenagers, but we can all just imagine how vulnerable we are at this moment.”

Rodrigo’s 11-song album — a cohesive narrative of her breakup, depicting its various stages and the turbulent emotions involved — is the latest addition to a roughly 50-year history of painfully honest portrayals of heartbreak through song. From Joni Mitchell and Willie Nelson to Adele and Beyoncé, the breakup album has become a staple of popular music through the decades.
One of five siblings raised in conservative Versailles, Kentucky, the co-founder of the bohemian cult favorite fashion brand

Sawyer later moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter, but the scrutiny continued. Confronted with the harsh reality of being one of many young women with a song and a dream, Sawyer experienced pressure to conform to the “LA look”: a slim, taut, airbrushed body primed for inspection at every angle. There were professional breakthroughs; she performed at Coachella and concerts all around LA and has numerous songs out on Spotify. Yet the city’s brutal demands and her own worsening diagnosis of interstitial cystitis became increasingly suffocating. “As much as I found creativity, it was such a competitive environment that I always felt closed off, disconnected. I could never fully flourish,” she says. “Women were constantly tearing each other down rather than supporting one another.”

Seeking an off ramp from the conveyor belt of the Los Angeles music industry, Sawyer moved to Canggu, Bali with her best friend and business partner Ryan Fontana. The relocation allowed the musician to tap into a new audience — and crucially, herself. “I realized that I’m like an exotic flower. When I transplanted myself here, my creativity, feminine essence and expression underwent a process of expansion. Everything unfurled and became safer, radiant, softer,” she explains.

It was in the soft embrace of this tropical paradise that Royal Codes was born. Sawyer had long been designing and performing in unusual dresses herself, often with stylistic nods to antiquity and royalty. But when the pandemic hit, concert cancelations gave her the space to finally lean into other passions and find a new way to support herself while creating value in the world.

Today, Royal Codes is a fully fledged clothing line with a loyal community of women empowering one another across the globe, reaching as far as Austria, Denmark, America, Germany, Canada, Malta, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Israel. Although the company comfortably profits in the multi-six figures, it maintains a commitment to philanthropy by donating money to local Balinese food fundraisers and giving sets away monthly to women in need. All pieces are handmade by a family in Bali and primarily utilize natural fibers such as bamboo and cotton. Sawyer selects fabrics based on their ability to achieve the feeling of comfort and confidence in your body: “It’s important to me that everything I create is stretchy and comfortable. Clothing should be understanding of our day-to-day lives and forgiving of changes in our bodies. If it’s too restrictive and uncomfortable, I literally can’t wear it,” insists the entrepreneur.
As music formats have changed over time and streaming has increased in popularity, artists have generally moved away from focusing on creating a comprehensive narrative in a single album. Krystal Klingenberg, a curator of music history at the National Museum of American History, explains that before the rise in streaming, “We listened to it [an album] all the way through. Now, in the land of Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, etc., we’re listening to singles, they’re putting out EPs.”