Sander Lak on the business lessons he’s bringing to his new label

Vogue: So you were applying to be the creative director of a house?

I was up for [some roles]. It’s an amazing opportunity for anyone creative to be able to do something on a platform that already exists, and spin it your own way. But I just didn’t think that was how I wanted to return. I really felt that if I wanted to make a return, it had to be under my own name, on my own terms, in a system that makes sense to me.

Vogue: So that’s when you landed on launching Sanderlak?

Yeah, I’ve always been very entrepreneurial, and I realised that’s what makes sense to me. When I look back at my own experiences with Sies Marjan and before that, with Dries Van Noten and Phillip Lim, and even a little experience at Marc Jacobs, it made me realise I want to build something — not from scratch because I’m not straight out of college, but from the beginning. It really was a fork in the road that I was about to green light my movie, and then I was like, ‘You know what, I think if I don’t do this now, I might just miss the opportunity.’

Vogue: I know that in order to launch the label, you secured angel investment. How did you find that process?

The process was really interesting. I had to really be entrepreneurial and convince people that this is not just investing in somebody who can make a nice pair of pants, this is also investing in an opportunity that can be really fruitful and will grow into something really impactful.

Vogue: Why do you think it is an opportunity? What white space do you think Sanderlak will fill in the industry?

On one hand, it is a really strange time to start something new, because the industry is in such a fragile position. But how I see it is really the other way around: I think customers have been a little bit overexposed to really big [brands] that have shoved a lot of stuff in their faces, and I think there is something quite interesting about the idea of being a smaller, independently functioning boat in between those big cruise ships. You can maneuver around a little bit easier. It’s something people feel they are discovering, and it’s not something that everyone else wears, or that you can buy at any airport.

Vogue: Do you feel that you’ll also attract former Sies Marjan customers?

A lot of the investors I spoke to said there is that kind of sweet spot, since Sies Marjan closed, that the gap was not really filled by anyone. It’s not that I am filling that gap with Sanderlak; I’m doing something different. But obviously, that is a legacy I left behind. And to this day, I hear from people at The RealReal, or just random people who love the brand, that they still can’t replace some of the things we did there. So there’s a proof of concept. That made it a little bit easier.

Vogue: Of course, this is your second turn as a founder. What lessons have you taken from Sies Marjan when it comes to running a business?