Nomadic Gets Creative Edge from Its Founder's Mixed-Race Identity
By Kelli Luu | 31 Mar, 2026

Filipino American Sage Robinson shares how posting viral content transformed his clothing brand from a hobby into an e-commerce business.

Kelli Luu (00:00)

With recent viral moments across Instagram and TikTok, Sage Robinson is representing a new wave of designers building culture in real time through content, community, and identity. Today, we got to sit down with the creative mind behind Nomadic to get the full story behind his brand. Hi Sage, welcome.

Sagie (00:03)

Yeah.

Hi Kelli what's up?

Kelli Luu (00:21)

let's get right into it. So Sage, you've had sudden videos blow up on Instagram and TikTok. What was this exact moment that you realized, ⁓ my gosh, something is really working.

Sagie (00:32)

It was mostly just like the relatability content for me. I just kind of started talking about who I was, my background and where I'm from. And then just kind of giving my overall general opinion and perspective of it. And I guess a lot of people gravitated towards my thoughts.

Kelli Luu (00:49)

Yeah, it definitely made something very conversational, something that people really want to put their two cents in on. can you tell me what goes behind the scenes when you're creating these kinds of videos?

Sagie (01:02)

I really try to think about like, hmm, what is something that hasn't been said yet, but I feel as though could be said. the second video that I posted that like kind of went a little bit viral was about the valley. And my whole thing was is that I'm from L.A. But, you know, if I tell somebody that's from L.A. that I'm from L.A., they're going to say I'm not from L.A. So I just kind of

stop saying I'm from LA altogether. And you know, I haven't really seen any videos about anybody really talking about the valley like that. So

Kelli Luu (01:36)

And we're talking

about the San Fernando Valley. Right. so before that virality that you had, before all of these viral videos that you were starting to put out, what was the grind looking like day to day?

Sagie (01:39)

Yes, that's the only value. That's the Valley

Mm-hmm.

⁓ It was mostly just working on clothes and then just finding a rhythm or some type of route that really connected with people. I did like a lot of different types of like content that I'd see like fashion creators do use, people doing paintings, what their creative medium was when it came to putting out content. And then I guess...

The thing that really triggered it for me was just talking to the audience themselves, giving them a voice and a face to really relate to.

Kelli Luu (02:26)

Yeah.

So you feel like you really found your niche

Sagie (02:34)

I'm still figuring it out, you know, because I mean, I'm just a I'm just one dude. There's like only so much relatability content that I can give out. So right now I'm just still trying to figure out to give my perspective. I would say, though, that there are some niche things about being, you know, as a mixed child, growing up as a mixed child that people do relate to that I did find, you know, a lot of support from coming from like people that with mixed backgrounds. So.

I will try to. Yeah.

Kelli Luu (03:02)

Okay, yeah, let's get into that a little bit. You're half Filipino, half Black.

Do you feel like you're representing both communities within your work?

Sagie (03:12)

I try to at least. Right now obviously I'm doing like the I love Pinays jersey. ⁓

Kelli Luu (03:18)

Yes, let's

get it like we'll talk about that the your a little bit later.

Sagie (03:22)

Yeah.

But when it comes to like my day to day life, I feel like I do protrude like, ⁓ like kind of Filipino Asian. How do I say this? ⁓

Kelli Luu (03:27)

Mm-hmm.

Sagie (03:37)

It's sort of like I just have those kind of traits to me. It was like, yeah, that's something that a Filipino dude or Filipino kid would do, comparative to like, oh, that's what a black kid would do. One thing I did notice, like ever since I came back from the Philippines, we always eat with a fork and a spoon. And in my house, I live with all boys. So like the dishes are never clean. So everyone and everyone always only uses like a fork. So I just.

I just like was like, all right, I guess I'm just using spoons. So now I'm using spoons. I shovel food into my mouth when I eat now.

Kelli Luu (04:14)

I see. ⁓ can

you kind of tell us what your household looked like culturally growing up?

Sagie (04:20)

⁓ culturally growing up, I mostly lived with my mom, who was a single mother when I was born, at least. Yeah. And you know, we bounce around from ⁓ living with my aunt, which would be like my my dad's sister. So ⁓ and then that and living with my Lola back in in like, in my Glendale area. So

Kelli Luu (04:27)

That's your Philip's side, correct? Okay.

Okay.

Sagie (04:49)

It was... yeah.

Kelli Luu (04:49)

Nice. So you were kind of you

were you did grow up in the Filipino household pretty much. Like the full experience.

Sagie (04:55)

Yeah, most definitely. No,

yeah, like my mom would yell at me if I didn't cook rice before she came home, because me and my siblings always got home before she did. Had to the rice done and I had to have the meat defrosted. I feel like everybody had to do that.

Kelli Luu (05:06)

Yeah.

So you had to have the race done.

yeah, that's different. Yeah, well, we're Asian so we have to the rice then. ⁓ Okay, so were there any moments where you ever felt like you weren't enough of either identity?

Sagie (05:20)

Yeah.

Most definitely, especially growing up. ⁓ You know, I didn't talk like the same way that everybody or everyone expected a black kid to talk and.

Kelli Luu (05:30)

Yeah.

Did you grow up

around a lot of Filipino students or other Filipino kids?

Sagie (05:44)

No, I grew up around like majority Hispanic and Latino kids. I went to Reseda all of it is like 70 % of the population populace is like Hispanic. mean, the other half, the other what is that like 25 30 % would be white or you know, you'd have some pockets of black kids. And then I think I knew only maybe two or three Filipino kids.

Kelli Luu (05:48)

Okay.

Sagie (06:09)

At Reseda Yeah, so there wasn't a whole lot of Filipino culture at Reseda.

Kelli Luu (06:16)

Okay, so

walk us through some of those moments where you were like, I don't feel Filipino enough or I don't feel black enough. What did you have to do to overcome that?

Sagie (06:26)

Honestly, I would say that I did find like a lot of love and acceptance when I did run into other people that were Filipino like that. There was two girls that I was friends with. They were half Filipino and half Hawaiian, ⁓ Polynesian, Samoan. And, you know, I would hang out with them and I got to be close with their family because it was just them two and their mom and dad. And then they would take me on

Kelli Luu (06:49)

Uh-huh.

Sagie (06:53)

trips to the beach where their dad would go surf. That was honestly like really fun days. ⁓ So they were really nice. They were really kind to me. And then I started to find more, you know, Filipinos when I moved to Northridge. And there's a Filipino shop, coffee shop called Cafe Aficionado on Reseda. And they would have pop-ups and you know, it's Filipino run. So they would have like a lot of Filipino vendors.

Kelli Luu (07:07)

Mm-hmm.

Sagie (07:22)

And that's when I started to meet more and more Filipinos. And you know, that's when like they kind of they like really accepted me like, wow, that's actually how like a lot of Filipinos are. Once once a Filipino finds out you're Filipino, you're blood, you're blood. Yeah. Ride or die.

Kelli Luu (07:22)

Cool.

Yeah, you're gonna rock with me. Exactly.

Okay, cool. was there a moment where you feel like you started to feel fully comfortable in your identity? Or do you think you're still figuring that out?

Sagie (07:48)

Nah, I definitely feel comfortable in it. Because I just kind of got to a point where I just stopped caring how people perceive me. And, ⁓ you know, I know who I am. know my I know my culture is his cultural history. And, I just love learning about it.

I know where mine the niche things that I do, I know where they came from. And I like what I like when it comes to pockets of the culture itself,

Kelli Luu (08:14)

Once you start not caring, what other people are thinking about, know, your own ethnicity, your culture and everything, once you find your own Filipinos and you're immersing yourself in your own culture, you stop to care what other people think anyways, because there's so many people like you, you know? There's so many of us.

Sagie (08:16)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kelli Luu (08:33)

Alright, so I really want to get into your clothing brand, Nomadic So when did you realize that you wanted to create your own clothing brand?

Sagie (08:45)

I got into clothing just in general back in 2020 when everything was shut down. I was just sitting at home and this TV show called The Hype on HBO Max came on. It's like this designer, clothing designer, fashion show, competition show. And as I was watching it, I was just like, man, I could do that. And then I signed up for fashion school like the next year.

Kelli Luu (09:09)

you attended a trade school. Yes. Yeah. How is that? did you learn in trade school that you feel like you couldn't learn without it?

Sagie (09:11)

Trade School.

What I really did learn is just like how the industry itself works and the mentality, not the mentality, ⁓ but more so like the mindset of just like the clothing world, kind of how it works, the work schedule, workflow, and really how to talk to people in the industry itself. And in ⁓ in downtown LA when I need to go source fabrics,

⁓ They teach you how to talk to those people, where to find the actual good stuff and where to source everything. So it's like real A through Z type of program. ⁓

Kelli Luu (10:05)

For like the design side, like if for somebody wants to create. wow. Okay.

Sagie (10:08)

No, design and production.

So, yeah, you literally can learn like any type of position in the fashion industry through their course. ⁓ They even do like if you're only want to do just like tech packs where you're not even touching the clothes, you're just talking to the people overseas like, hey, I need this hoodie to be this size and it cropped at this

length, you know?

Kelli Luu (10:38)

And they just walk you through that whole process as well.

Sagie (10:41)

Yeah, that's

a full class, like a tech-packed class where they teach you about all of that. I didn't take it mostly because, you know, I work with my hands. That's the main reason why I went to that school.

Kelli Luu (10:51)

Yeah.

Yeah, you want to like design and actually craft every right. Exactly. Okay, cool. So what does Nomadic mean to you beyond the name? Like what is where did this name come from? What does it mean to you today? What do you want it to mean in the future?

Sagie (10:57)

Mm-hmm. I'm trying to get dirty.

⁓ so I grew up Buddhist. That's how my parents met. and so, you know, growing up, I always, and, and we always had to, me and my family always had to like move around a lot. So I never really found like a place to really call home. And so, growing up like that and then having my mom just kind of reiterate the Buddhist teachings, ⁓ that she would teach us. It was just like,

I knew that nothing's permanent. know, change is a good thing. It's sometimes scary, but you you always have to just keep on moving. And that's just kind of where I was kind of landed on with Nomadic, just because I don't know where this brand will go. I just know that I will keep going with it. ⁓ I want it to evolve into many different things. I want to be able to touch on many different things. you know, if

Kelli Luu (12:00)

Mm-hmm.

Sagie (12:07)

For some reason, like knock on wood, like something bad were to happen and I just can't keep going with maybe a certain idea or a certain name placement. I'm ready to just be like, all right, I guess I'm on to the next thing.

Kelli Luu (12:25)

That's a good mindset to go about it Can you walk us through your actual design process? Like how do you come up with ideas and what will be made? Let's talk about your I love Pinay shirts.

What was that design process like? What goes into these products that you're putting onto your website?

Sagie (12:43)

So I honestly stole the idea from this other brand called I Love Peanuts. But the difference is that their shirt is just a regular cotton t-shirt, ⁓ raglan shirt. what I'm doing differently is that I'm using a jersey material. It's more breathable just because like, you know,

Kelli Luu (12:51)

Okay.

Yeah, with like the writing. ⁓

Sagie (13:10)

LA is hot and so is the Philippines. So like you're gonna you're gonna want like something that's more breathable than just like regular shirts sometimes. I've used this design for like the jersey itself, how it fits and ⁓ and like the crop of it. the whole look of it is just one of my previous jerseys that I've made before. ⁓

Kelli Luu (13:12)

Yeah.

Sagie (13:33)

And I just decided, yeah, I'm just gonna put I Love Pinays on it. And I added the little sun because I wanted to make it. Yeah, I added the sun and the stars onto it to give it some more flair.

Kelli Luu (13:38)

Cool.

A little sun and the stars.

Love it.

Well, people definitely like it on TikTok and Instagram. ⁓ have these viral videos given you business?

Sagie (13:58)

yeah, most definitely. ⁓ I've gotten like, cause before I was only getting like maybe like one or two orders. Now I got like three orders a week. Yeah, dude.

Kelli Luu (14:00)

Yeah

Now it's three orders a week.

Well, that's great. That's a lot better than one or two every now and then, you know? So when you're designing, are you thinking about the art itself? Because I know you you draw, you like to paint. Are you actually thinking about the art of what's going on this and

Sagie (14:23)

Yeah.

Kelli Luu (14:38)

What goes into like the actual, medium of it and like the fun of making it the actual art part or are you thinking about what will people actually wear?

Sagie (14:43)

Mm-hmm.

The majority of the time I just make stuff for me. ⁓ honestly like the majority, like whenever I make clothes, I just think about, oops, things about like what I would want to wear and hopefully people like gravitate towards it. I just kind of, well, yeah, anything that I make, I just make for me. But when it comes to like differentiating between like my art and like my clothing, I kind of tend to do...

Kelli Luu (14:50)

Yes.

Sagie (15:13)

more so like if it's like something more ⁓ abstract as far as just like a clothing like avant-garde, I just get inspired about ⁓ cultural things and ⁓ maybe it's just like a timepiece that I've seen like on Pinterest or walking or going to a thrift store and I see like, wow, this jacket was like,

made in like the it's very 80s coded or 90s coded and i'm like i would like to you know do it myself of in my own type of way ⁓ comparative to like my ⁓ my art which is more so just my personal life experience and how i how i would like to portray it out to the world or express myself

Kelli Luu (15:49)

having, so yeah, that's cool.

Sagie (16:07)

express my personal life experiences is through my art itself.

Kelli Luu (16:12)

Well, that's really cool. A lot of people can't just see something that they like and then go home and be like, I want to make that. So that's some real talent right there for sure. Yeah, of course. I want to actually, I want to go over the TikTok thing and like Instagram thing.

Sagie (16:22)

I appreciate you,

Kelli Luu (16:29)

How long have you been consistent with posting on your social media?

Sagie (16:34)

I want to say I started, I've been posting here and there last year, probably two, three times a two times a week. This year I started around mid to late January. And that's when I started posting more or I started ⁓ mentally just start kind of thinking like, ⁓ where can I find content? How do I push out a video? And I was pushing out probably

to... I would probably push out like three, four videos a week. Now I'm trying to do more like five, six days a week. I'll try and hit seven. I'm just like, man.

Kelli Luu (17:09)

Yeah.

The consistency is definitely key when it comes to social media but you know once the algorithm kind of picks up exactly that you're posting and that you're consistent and that people like you then you you're good from there so I always tell people once they get a viral video like you can't stop you just gotta keep going because that video is gonna do well your next one might do well and then the one after that and then it's just an endless cycle from there so definitely keep up what you're

Sagie (17:23)

Yeah.

Kelli Luu (17:40)

clearly the social media algorithm has you've caught it's caught your it's caught their eyes so that's great what would you say is the hardest part about running this business is it financial or operational

Sagie (17:43)

found my pocket.

I'm trying to find my best balance between both things just because I am working at the same time, working a day job. So when it comes to financial, it was definitely ⁓ definitely like a thing that I was trying to work around. That's why everything that I make is just made to order. ⁓ I don't have pre-clothing to just sell and just once someone orders it, I just package it and ship it out.

Kelli Luu (18:00)

Right? Yes.

Great.

Sagie (18:21)

whatever someone orders from me, I have to make a run to downtown and pick up more stuff just because I don't buy stuff in bulk because I don't know what people are going to want to buy. I'd like to get to a point where I can just have stuff pre-made, like do actual drops, but you know, I'm still growing. So I'm working with what

Kelli Luu (18:31)

break.

Sagie (18:42)

is going to work best with my financials and my schedule.

Kelli Luu (18:47)

Okay great. what do you think was the first real sign where you thought Nomadic could really become your business and not just your passion?

Sagie (18:58)

don't even think it was like a real sign or anything. I could say like when the first viral video I put out got a lot of traction, I was like, hey, I can actually make some money off of this. I never really, I guess the whole goal was to make a brand to like have a business, but

In all actuality, just really wanted to make clothes because I never had a whole lot of money to buy new clothes. So I would always just go thrifting and take some clothes that just didn't fit me well and just fit it to how I wanted to fit.

Kelli Luu (19:34)

Well, that's really cool because now your designs are being shown and loved by a lot of people

Sagie (19:40)

Yeah, Like it's getting a lot of love and traction. People keep reposting me. It's weird seeing my face on other people's stories but you know, I'm getting used to it.

Kelli Luu (19:43)

⁓ yeah.

Yeah, definitely you got to. All right, so we'll wrap up. We have a couple more questions. ⁓ What does success look like for you in the next two to three years?

Sagie (19:59)

In the next two or three years, I hope to be able to not have to work ⁓ a regular clock in job and just solely be able to make money off of the clothing that I make and the art that I make.

And honestly, just that for now in the next two, three years, yeah, I would like to be there where I don't have to clock in for work and just, yeah, just keep on doing what I love, keep making money off the things that I create. Maybe move out of the States, who knows?

Kelli Luu (20:25)

Just do like, love.

Really?

Sagie (20:36)

Yeah, I'm over it. I'm over the US.

Kelli Luu (20:38)

Hmm. Do

you want to live in the Philippines?

Sagie (20:41)

Yeah, it's definitely been a thought. Ever since I went there, was like, man, I don't think I really want to go back.

Kelli Luu (20:43)

Yeah, well

I know that's how a lot of people feel once they go back to you know their their motherland so alright, so my final question is looking back on your journey so far What would you say you are the most proud of that people don't see?

Sagie (20:55)

The

I guess I'd have to say that the most thing I'm most proud of is...

kind of ⁓ it kind of speaks to my character a little bit, like why it's so hard for me to answer that question. I don't know why, what, one thing specifically, but I guess just being able to make sales is just like the biggest thing for me. Having my website that I have get a lot of, you know, clicks and views and people actually buying, checking out.

the stuff that I have, that's kinda the most thing I'm currently most proud of.

Kelli Luu (21:36)

Well, that's awesome. That's like the first few steps of the beginning of a great business. So I think you're definitely on that right path. So just keep going. Keep it up.

Sagie (21:48)

Yes ma'am.

Kelli Luu (21:49)

okay, awesome. Thank you so much Sage Robinson. Can you actually let us know where people can check out your site, where people can purchase Let us know.

Sagie (22:01)

So yeah, my Instagram handle is curly haired underscore monk and there's also a link to my clothing page Nomadic and My art page winter t monkey and then you can find me on tik tok dis monk di SS monk

Kelli Luu (22:18)

All right, awesome. Okay, well, thank you so much Sage for your time. We wish you the best with your business. We are in full support. Thank you so much again. We really appreciate you being here with us at Gold Sea. Big thanks to Sage again, and we will see you guys on the next episode.

Sagie (22:36)

Thank you, thank you. Have a good one.