This September, Maharam introduces Arcana and Bolero by Sander Lak, the newest textiles in the design studio’s collaboration with the Dutch fashion designer, furthering his dexterous yet playful design language in two expressive textures.
Beginning in 2021 with a comprehensive series of wool textiles, Maharam’s collaboration with Lak has been guided by the designer’s intuitive approach to color. With Nova (2025), Lak embraced dynamic color mixing within large-scale pattern, while Arcana and Bolero—a window covering and upholstery—pair Lak’s precise tones with distinctive tactility. “Sander has an eye for the unexpected,” says Allyn Yu, design manager. “He pushes us towards a kind of productive discomfort, encouraging us to move in ever-bolder directions.”
Known for his ethereal subversions of proportion and material through his work with Balmain, Dries Van Noten, and his own labels Sies Marjan and Sanderlak, Lak continually explores carefully calibrated interactions between texture and tone. “There’s an element of play here, and of tension,” says Lak of the new window covering and upholstery. “I wanted to see how these pairings of color and texture could encourage experimentation.”
Arcana and Bolero expand upon Lak’s color expertise through the exploration of amplified texture. Arcana is an opaque window covering with a luminous, textural surface. A sophisticated weave of floating yarns on the textile’s back creates a puckering effect, lending the dappled appearance of hammered metal in saturated hues like copper, coral, and chartreuse. Fleece-like, curled yarns, knit together then backed, form the plush surface of new upholstery Bolero. An expressive shag of poodle-like ringlets offers textural contrast to otherworldly tones like lilac-grey, buttercream, bubblegum, and tangerine.
About Sander Lak
Sander Lak is a fashion designer and creative director who grew up between Malaysia, Gabon, Scotland and the Netherlands and now lives and works in New York. His work emphasizes ethereal subversions of proportion and material brought to life through color. Lak received a MA from Central Saint Martins and has worked for Balmain, Dries Van Noten, Phillip Lim, and his label Sies Marjan. In 2018 Lak was named the Emerging Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Sanderlak, the designer’s new, eponymous label highlighting a different location with each collection, debuted in 2025 with a focus on Los Angeles.