After a six-year hiatus, Derek Lam Collection is coming back.
Robert Rodriguez has been tapped as the creative director of Derek Lam Collection and Derek Lam 10 Crosby, founded by American designer Derek Lam in 2003 and 2011, respectively. Rodriguez’ first collection for Derek Lam Collection will be presented for fall 2026 in February.
In 2019, designer Lam shuttered his collection business to focus on his contemporary label Derek Lam 10 Crosby, which was acquired by Public Clothing Company in 2020. Lam, who was chief creative officer of the contemporary label, left the business in 2023 and joined Italian brand Câllas Milano as creative director in 2024. Kate Wallace served as Derek Lam 10 Crosby’s creative director from 2023 to 2024.
In July 2024, Danielle Alalu came on board as president of Derek Lam 10 Crosby after serving as vice president of sales at Sperry and senior vice president of wholesale at Sweaty Betty and ATM Anthony Thomas Melillo. Her appointment, now brand president of Derek Lam, signaled a new era for the contemporary label, with a focus on growth, global expansion and brand development.
This included Derek Lam 10 Crosby’s first New York Fashion Week presentation last February since its founder departed. The fall 2025 collection homed in on novelty denim, mixed media dresses, collaborative loafers with Freda Salvador, pajama dressing, and tailoring. “We’re coming back to our roots,” Yana Popov, former design director, told WWD at the time.
Last year, Alalu told WWD, “We see our customer embodying our vision of refined femininity with a preference for versatile timeless pieces that balance luxury and practicality. Our focus is on the customers and we will use their feedback in combination with data from DTC, retail and wholesale to create a lifestyle brand for the Derek Lam 10 Crosby woman.”
Now the company is pivoting to attract new consumers under the creative direction of Rodriguez, who will oversee design direction, brand image and product development for both Derek Lam Collection, which was known for its dressed-up sportswear in the 2010s, and Derek Lam 10 Crosby.
“Robert brings a rare balance of creativity and commercial instinct. Alongside Danielle’s strategic leadership, we now have a unified team ready to propel Derek Lam into its next chapter — building a modern American brand with global reach and enduring relevance” Dan Shamdasani, chief executive officer of Public Clothing Company, told WWD.
Over the course of Rodriguez’ long fashion career, the Cuban-born and Miami-raised designer worked for Christian Dior, Laundry by Shelli Segal and Halston; founded his own label of contemporary women’s sportswear in 2003, and created eveningwear collection Kolston.
The Robert Rodriguez Collection was acquired by Jones Apparel Group in 2010 before it was acquired by Sycamore Partners in 2014. As reported by WWD, Rodriguez and his CEO Nicola Guarna managed to buy back the name in 2020 and relaunched the label in partnership with One Jeanswear Group to license his brand with a focus on a premium, denim-skewed collection for spring 2025. Rodriguez declined to comment, but reports are that collection is no longer being produced.
In August, Alalu reached out to Rodriguez, whom she knew from her years working at Nordstrom, about joining the company. “I know this is what we needed to elevate and really push the brand forward,” she said. “He has a very similar clean aesthetic — I knew that he would keep that brand DNA, but with a twist and in an elevated way to modernize it for the 2026 woman.”
In a statement, the company added that Rodriguez’ sophisticated yet effortless approach to design and balance of polished femininity, precise tailoring and modern ease will be brought forth in the new Derek Lam Collection.
“I had a good year to assess the business. What I realized is Derek Lam 10 Crosby is still an incredibly important part of the business and the brand DNA, but I’ve seen this space in the market that really is a bit more elevated in the advanced contemporary world. You’ve got the Ulla Johnsons, Nili Lotans, the TWPs — I feel there’s a space right below that that isn’t tapped into from a price point standpoint. Having a deep familiarity and love of Derek Lam Collections, I felt now was the time to utilize a brand from an American designer standpoint,” Alalu said of tapping into this price point for the brand’s loyal customer and heritage brand DNA that she felt was missing in the market. “How do we bring that back in a more elevated way, into the space, into the market, while keeping Derek Lam 10 Crosby and utilizing that in different channels.”
She explained that going forward, Derek Lam 10 Crosby will shift in positioning to more of an opening price point in contemporary, whereas Derek Lam Collection will be more of a true advanced contemporary price point, sitting between $295 and $1,295.
“Derek Lam 10 Crosby remains a critical piece of our brand portfolio and DNA. It will be business as usual with a little bit of shift just in terms of positioning. We’re still working through the details on that a little,” she explained. “With Robert at the helm, he’ll be leading and guiding the creative across both brands.”
Rodriguez is currently working on the Derek Lam Collection fall 2026 collection, which is slated to debut via a presentation during February’s New York Fashion Week and will be the “premiere focus brand,” rather than Derek Lam 10 Crosby, Alalu said.
“The idea is the hero-to-halo idea, where you’re getting the hero effect from the Derek Lam Collection, trickled down in to the contemporary diffusion brand,” she said of the secondary label’s change in positioning to a more accessible price point and new item-focused strategy, which Alalu hopes will continue to broaden the brand’s reach.
“10 Crosby will be an extension of Derek Lam in a more casual way — a little younger. It will be shifting into a new direction, but it will definitely be an extension of the brand and very cohesive to the main collection,” Rodriguez explained. Going forward, he will design four collections a year for both Derek Lam Collection and Derek Lam 10 Crosby, which Alalu said will hit more of the trend-driven aesthetic.
“For me as a creative person, thinking, ‘What would [the brand] be if it was around today?’ Taking my creativity and sensibility about looking at the DNA of the brand is very familiar. It’s very much what I’ve always done with my collection, because I was always in advanced contemporary. It feels natural to me to be doing this, and it just feels right,” Rodriguez said, adding his approach is about thinking who the Derek Lam customer is today.
Alalu said regarding Derek Lam Collection, the company intends to work with key premier U.S. and global department stores as partners, as well as to relaunch its e-commerce website.
“As there’s been little rumblings about Robert being here, we’ve already seen specialty stores are so excited. They know him, and they know his fit, quality, DNA and they trust him. That in itself is going to give a lot of confidence and interest to getting key retailers on board,” she said.