T Magazine | A New Book Shows Sies Marjan's Colors Haven't Faded

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In its four years of existence, the New York City-based fashion label Sies Marjan cultivated a legion of devotees with its vibrant designs. When the brand suddenly closed in the summer of 2020, the city’s fashion landscape lost some of its color. A newly published tome by the brand’s founder and designer, Sander Lak, offers up a remedy of sorts in the form of 300 photographs, including snapshots from the runway and ad campaigns, behind the scenes moments and other mood board miscellany under the title “The Colors of Sies Marjan.” For Lak, its mission was equally personal. “I always wanted to make a book, but I also felt like it was the right way to close that chapter,” the Dutch designer said, adding that its purpose was not only a celebration of the brand’s imaginative collections but also a way to honor the 35 or so employees working there at the time.

Naturally, Lak organized the book’s imagery by shade, starting with a deep burgundy (the signature hue of the label’s logo) and continuing through a spectrum of colors with names like Olympic blue, McYellow, Twizzler red and Seaweed. “It doesn’t matter if I put the first collection next to the last collection next to a research image next to a color swatch. It all feels like Sies Marjan,” Lak said, referencing the brand’s distinct, anachronistic aesthetic. Interspersed throughout are conversations with artists, collaborators and friends, such as Rem Koolhass, Isabella Rossellini and Julie Mehretu, who Lak interviewed about their own relationships to color. Lak summarizes his own preoccupation with the subject in an opening statement, paraphrasing a quote from the painter Claude Monet: “Color is my daily obsession, joy and torment.” For readers and fans, this book will likewise delight and inspire. $65, rizzoliusa.com.