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Sander Lak, the Central Saint Martins-trained designer behind now-defunct New York label Sies Marjan, will debut a new luxury brand, Sanderlak, at Paris men’s fashion week later this month. The label is inspired by menswear, but intended to cater to all genders.
Lak, who worked at Dries Van Noten in Antwerp before moving to New York, launched Sies Marjan in 2016 with the backing of billionaire investor Howard Marks and his wife, Nancy Marks, who financed the American couture label Ralph Rucci before Rucci’s exit in 2014. “Opportunities like these don’t happen anymore,” Lak told The Business of Fashion in 2016. “It used to happen in the ‘90s, maybe, but not anymore.”
Against the odds, Sies Marjan, best known for Lak’s poetic use of colour, was picked up by Barneys New York after a buzzy debut attended by Anna Wintour, Natalie Massenet and Stefano Tonchi. In 2018, Lak was awarded the CFDA’s Emerging Designer of the Year award. But the 2019 closure of Barneys hit the business hard, as did the pandemic, and Sies Marjan shuttered in June 2020.
Lak’s new venture, backed by angel investors, is targeting a category that’s less saturated than women’s ready-to-wear and, following the pandemic, saw growth that outpaced the industry overall. But the label is launching at a challenging time for emerging labels amid a sharp downturn in demand for luxury goods.
Sanderlak will be presented in Paris at private appointments. The brand, currently based in New York, will offer two collections a year.
