Democratique picks up fashion brand Sahaja— and is still shopping - Upstart

The UpTake: Democratique, a fashion acquisition company that picked up indie knitwear brand Sahaja today, is part incubator, part investor. It asks new designers to cede majority ownership in their own labels in exchange for financial backing and expertise, plus a stake in a multi-label parent company.

Gordon McDougall has been an entrepreneur in the retail and consumer goods industry throughout his working life, and now at age 57, he can recognize a struggling fellow innovator when he sees one.

Four years ago, he co-founded a girls apparel brand Lexi-Luu Designs that he helped grow from startup to $1 million-a-year brand currently. Through a manufacturing facility that he bought in July 2013, also in L.A., he met other fashion startup founders who were using his factory for their made in the USA brands and were also looking to scale up their businesses.

“What I started to see were these amazing brands coming into my manufacturing facility with tremendous talent, but without the ability to get capital or the expertise they needed to grow,” says McDougall, the chief executive officer and director of Democratique. A new business idea dawned on him: to help made in the USA fashion brands scale up, incubator style, but to also create a parent company that would be an umbrella for these independent brands.

Today, Democratique announced its second acquisition, this time of knitwear brand Sahaja , which was founded five years ago by fashion industry veteran Serge Berliawsky. Sahaja, which is based in Los Angeles, makes cashmere, wool, and other knitted garments and sells them to upscale luxury retailers, including Barney’s New York, Maxfield LA, and other retailers in North America, Europe and Asia.

With help from Democratique, Sahaja is in the process of expanding its line of women’s and men’s sweaters, scarves, hats, blankets, and other knitted accessories across multiple local and international retailers. It has also come up with ways to lower its costs, increase margins and access a wider audience of buyers at a more diversified price point. It has been invited to exhibit at Coterie, an exclusive women’s fashion fair in New York City, held from February 23-25.

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