Derek Lam

Derek Lam is an American fashion designer born in 1967. He is best known for establishing his own namesake label and diffusion line, as well as serving in creative leadership roles for major international fashion houses, including Tod's and Câllas Milano.

Lam was born in San Francisco, California, into a fourth-generation Chinese American family as the youngest of three children. His family possessed strong ties to the garment industry; his parents operated a business importing clothing from Asia, while his grandparents ran a garment factory in San Francisco specializing in bridal and wedding dresses. He attended the Parsons School of Design in Manhattan, graduating in 1990.

Lam began his professional career in the 1990s as an assistant for Michael Kors, working with the designer for four years. He then moved to Hong Kong to work for a large retail brand before returning to New York to serve as the Vice President of Design for the Kors line by Michael Kors. In September 2003, Lam launched his own label and debuted his collection at New York Fashion Week. His early independent work earned industry recognition in 2005, when he won the runner-up prize in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition and received the CFDA Perry Ellis Swarovski Award for new designers.

In 2005, Lam became the creative director for ready-to-wear and accessories at Tod's, where Diego Della Valle signed him to create a clothing brand. During his tenure at Tod's, which lasted until 2012, Lam presented the brand's first jewelry collection in 2008. Meanwhile, his personal brand expanded into shoes, handbags, and eyewear through a 2006 licensing agreement with Modo. From 2008 to 2012, JAB Holding Company's Labelux division owned a majority stake in Derek Lam. The brand opened a SANAA-designed store in 2009, launched an e-commerce platform in 2010, and established further licensing deals for shoes with Schwartz & Benjamin in 2012 and beachwear with Albisetti in 2018.

In 2011, Lam launched the Derek Lam 10 Crosby diffusion line, which later expanded to include fragrance in 2015 and eyewear frames in partnership with Modo. The brand's beauty license was subsequently acquired by the Premiere Group in 2018. Over time, Lam incorporated sustainable fashion practices into his collections, utilizing materials such as non-chromed leather, eco-viscose, recycled cashmere, recycled polyester, and raw eco materials. In 2019, he closed his main luxury collection to focus on Derek Lam 10 Crosby. Public Clothing Company acquired the brand in January 2020, retaining Lam as Chief Creative Officer.

Lam concluded his work with Derek Lam 10 Crosby in 2023. The following year, in 2024, he joined the Italian brand Câllas Milano as creative director. In his personal life, Lam is married to his business partner, Jan-Hendrik Schlottmann. The couple previously resided in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan before relocating to Paris in 2023.