Saks Insider

The New Wave at Saks, presented by Mastercard®, is Saks’ designer accelerator program, which develops and supports independent brands in accelerating their growth across the fashion and retail industries. This year, we welcomed our fourth annual class of talented designers, including Nicholas Daley, Glass Cypress, NEOUS and Róhe. 

Saks identified this year’s participants as having significant growth potential. The six-month long program included a virtual orientation, mentorship and consulting services, entrepreneurial workshops and industry roundtables for participating designers to gain the skills and insights needed to scale their businesses at Saks and across the overall fashion and retail industry. 

To celebrate the 2024 class, we launched a dedicated marketing campaign spotlighting this year’s participants, featuring each brand across Saks’ digital channels, showcasing the designers’ inspiring stories as well as their Pre-Fall and Fall collections, which are available for purchase now on Saks.com. Additionally, each brand is featured in the Saks Fall Fashion Book and in a special window installation at the Saks Fifth Avenue New York flagship. Additionally, Saks’ Fashion Director, Roopal Patel hosted an intimate cocktail party at L’Avenue at Saks to toast the 2024 class.

Meet the class of 2024: Adrian Barboza of Glass Cypress, Nicholas Daley of Nicholas Daley, Natalie Williams of Neous and Marieke Meulendijks of Róhe. 

NICHOLAS DALEY

What inspired you to become a designer? "I worked on the shop floor in a streetwear store called Wellgosh in my home city of Leicester at the age of 16 selling brands such as Stussy, Carhartt WIP and Fred Perry, which was the start of my fashion career. I have always had a fascination with second hand military/worker clothing, which I have been collecting for over 15 years and continues to inform my collections and love of textiles, design and product development."

How would you define your brand aesthetic? “I have continued this exploration of craft in new territories with natural dye/printing techniques. This keeps my carbon footprint lower by producing more locally, and supporting UK fashion manufacturing. I have also continued to collaborate with such iconic British manufacturers/brands such as Mulberry, Fred Perry, Trickers Shoemakers, Lavenham Quilting and Christy’s Hatmakers in my collections. This highlights the diversity of techniques and craftsmanship we have across the UK whilst pushing the products forward for today’s fashion market.”

Share some insight into your brand’s ethos. “My brand ethos is built on three core values of community, craftsmanship and culture. This continues to reflect my key values of multiculturalism which is shown through my collections and activations aimed to highlight diversity.” 

GLASS CYPRESS

What inspired you to become a designer? “The desire to express a certain viewpoint pushed me towards fashion.”

How would you define your brand aesthetic? “Whimsical, flowy, abstract, odd.”

Share some insight into your brand’s ethos. “Our brand stands for asymmetry; the lack of order/assumptions/preconceived bias. This is our understanding of freedom.” 

RÓHE

What inspired you to become a designer?: "My grandmother, she was always making her own clothes and busy with crafts. She encouraged me to move to Amsterdam and study fashion and textile. Right after my graduation, at the age of 21, I started working in fashion. While traveling around the world and learning about various textile crafts, I was able to build strong relationships, which supported the creation and evolution of RÓHE later on in my life. Róhe was established in 2021 by Marieke Meulendijks and Maickel Weyers in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. For me it was the right time to launch Róhe, a time when everything simply came to a standstill and that period of reflection led to launching Róhe."

How would you define your brand’s aesthetic: “The brand stands for an infinite dialogue of quiet confidence. A strong identity for a timeless reinvented garderobe. A multi-disciplinary philosophy, where craft, innovation and an artistic community meet. A personal garderobe that can transcend seasons with each piece seamlessly complementing the existing collection. Róhe focuses on an unexpected edge, exceptional Italian fabrics and uncompromising quality.”

Share some insight into your brand’s ethos. “That fashion does not always need to be loud. Róhe stands for quiet confidence. I’m also [more of] a shy person, and for me it’s very important [that] clothes make you feel really good and give you a sense of calm empowerment.”

NEOUS 

What inspired you to become a designer? “From my education within art history and my work within the fashion industry at publications such as Harpers Bazaar and US and Italian Vogue, my love for creating and storytelling meant I wanted to collide my worlds to create my own brand that offers affordable luxury footwear and handbags that holds craftsmanship at the core. Building connections, and feeling a connection to creativity through our community is a key driver for me.”

How would you define your brand’s aesthetic? “The NEOUS brand is dedicated to crafting modern heirlooms that quietly combine functionality with timeless elegance, seamlessly slipping into modern life. From doing this we have created a very recognisable signature.”

Share some insight into your brand’s ethos. “One of our key messages is to offer a design-blend that encompasses uncompromising, thoughtful, quality with expert craftsmanship through a timeless luxury lens. We want to create lifetime products. We design pieces that are luxurious, distinctive but also relevant and lasting in every-sense.”

Learn more about The New Wave at Saks and our 2024 class in WWD and The Edit on Saks.com.