Lam plans to open his first, 3,700-square-foot boutique at 10-12 Crosby Street early next year. The unit is positioned adjacent to Jil Sander on Howard Street and near stores such as De Vera, Ted Muehling and BDDW. To create the store concept, Lam tapped Japanese architectural firm SANAA, which also designed such projects as The New Museum here; The Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Contemporary Art in Ohio, and the Christian Dior building on Tokyo's Omotesando.

"I have always really loved their philosophy, in terms of what goes into their thought," Lam said. "I found there was a great, similar point of view, and because this is our first store, I wanted architects who can really participate with me on developing that part of the brand."

Ernst & Young and Duane Morris LLP represented Labelux in the deal, and Derek Lam was represented by Rothstein Kass and Rand Rosenzweig Radley & Gordon.

Hauptkorn said that Labelux doesn't make acquisitions just to flip them later, but looks to build brands, supporting them and allowing them access to its resources. The company is continuing to look for acquisition opportunities, but Hauptkorn said, "We are privately held and don't have stock market expectations. What we have are shareholders who believe in the industry as a long-term trajectory, who say, 'We want to have a portfolio of promising fresh brands and brands with a strong heritage.'"

Labelux is "prepared to take a long-term view to really move the designer Derek Lam towards the brand Derek Lam," Hauptkorn said. "We are there to make this happen for the next 50 years. We look at the big picture."