Jay Strongwater Partners with Twin Lakes Capital

NEW YORK, Aug. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jay Strongwater, the American designer of luxury collectible home furnishings and personal accessories, today announced that he has formed Jay Strongwater LLC together with Twin Lakes Capital. 

The new venture will honor the heritage of this iconic brand and continue the tradition of fine American craftsmanship and design. Retail partners and collectors can also expect a greatly expanded assortment of home products and personal accessories and the full realization of Jay Strongwater's creative vision. 

The company will be owned by Jay Strongwater and an investment group led by Twin Lakes Capital, and will be headquartered in New York City. The management team will be led by Jay Strongwater as Creative Director, and Twin Lakes partners Lee Feldman as CEO and Howard Cohen as CFO. The first collection of this new venture will be available starting in May 2012.

Twin Lakes Capital is a private equity firm which focuses on consumer brands, media and business services. In May 2008 Twin Lakes led the acquisition of MacKenzie-Childs, the American luxury home furnishings and personal accessories brand, where Lee Feldman also serves as CEO and Howard Cohen as CFO. Twin Lakes has formed Aurora Brands LLC which is a holding company that will hold their stakes in MacKenzie-Childs and Jay Strongwater.

"I want to thank my partners at Weingeroff Enterprises with whom I have worked closely and successfully for the last 16 years.  Together we have introduced many collections in which I take great pride, and I'm pleased to continue working with them as we launch our final collection together this fall," said Strongwater on the partnership. "I am so proud of the passion and loyalty of our collectors, and this is a very exciting time for the Jay Strongwater brand.  We will continue to design and produce high quality and beautiful decorative metal objects while embarking on an exciting new chapter for the brand by expanding our assortment of product categories and materials."

"We have been intensely focused on the luxury home furnishings and personal accessories space for the last several years, and we have admired Jay Strongwater as a designer, his truly unique collections and the enthusiasm of his collectors. It is an honor for us to have the opportunity to partner with Jay, and we look forward to the continued growth of the brand," added Feldman.

Russ Patrick, Neiman Marcus, SVP GMM The Man's Store and Gift Galleries said, "Jay Strongwater has been a very important brand at Neiman Marcus for well over a decade, and the upcoming fall collection features some of Jay's finest work.  We know Twin Lakes well as a result of their ownership and management of MacKenzie-Childs, which is experiencing rapid growth. We look forward to working with the new team they have formed with our friend Jay."

SOURCE Twin Lakes Capital