Los Angeles-based streetwear label Sundae School celebrated multiple milestones with its first-ever runway show.
Founded and designed by Dae Lim, Sundae School’s runway show, which was held Thursday night at the House of Cannabis in SoHo, was meant as a celebration of the brand’s sixth anniversary and marks the brand’s return to New York City, where it was launched before relocating to Los Angeles. The runway show was also a celebration of 4/20, the national holiday for marijuana enthusiasts.
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“We decided to not show in the men’s calendar this year and instead do it on 4/20 off the calendar,” Lim said. “The reason is because we are first and foremost a brand for our community. We have a community of cannabis enthusiasts, but we also have a community of Asian Americans and Korean Americans, as well as LGBTQIA folks, so we wanted to bring everyone together to celebrate 4/20 in New York.”
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Lim looked to the brand’s playful design codes for the new collection, titled “Let There Be Light,” creating a lineup of campy pieces that pay homage to New York City and cannabis. The inspiration was taken literally for several pieces, such as a pair of jeans painted to resemble New York’s ubiquitous hot dogs or an off-white dress with burnt edges meant to look like a joint.
Other styles paid homage to Lim’s Korean heritage and the brand’s cool ethos. Lim produced multiple styles inspired by traditional Korean hanbok — including the finale look, which was a take on the traditional graduation gown — and incorporated Korean phrases on several pieces.
“We really wanted to focus on how different New Yorkers find light,” Lim said. “Whether it’s literally sparking up a joint at Sheep Meadow [in Central Park], to going to a yoga class or watching Netflix, we wanted to play into the different archetypes that we imagine the cannabis enthusiasts or the stoners at Sundae School partake in in New York.”
The 4/20-themed runway show comes at a time of sustained growth for Sundae School. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the brand transitioned from wholesale distribution to strictly direct-to-consumer to be able to go back to the roots of the business. Sundae School also has an edibles line of cannabis-infused mochis, which it launched in 2021.
“I was like, ‘Hey guys, let’s remember why we started this,’” Lim said about the shift in distribution. “It was for the community. It was for us, and I feel like somewhere because of the realities of running the business, it kind of got lost. But honestly it’s been amazing to take back the destiny into our hands. Now even if the product doesn’t come in time, we can just wait a week to drop.”
Sundae School has several initiatives lined up for this summer. The brand is hosting a pop-up store at the Line Hotel located in Los Angeles’ Koreatown and is releasing collaborations with Electric Daisy Carnival and Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.