Lady M (boutique)

Lady M is a luxury confections brand established in 2001, most famous for its signature Mille Crêpes Cakes. It operates over 50 boutiques worldwide.

Lady M

Company type	Private
Industry	Confectionery
Genre	Bakery
Founded	2001; 24 years ago (2001) in New York City
Founder	Emi Wada[1]
Key people	Ken Romaniszyn (CEO)
Products	Cakes and confections
Website	www.ladym.com

History

One of Lady M's founders, Emi Wada, invented the mille crêpes cake and sold them in her Paper Moon Cake Boutiques in Japan starting in 1985.^[1] The mille crêpe [ja] cakes she created consist of 20 thin handmade crêpes layered with light pastry cream and topped with a caramelized crust.^[2]

In 2001, Wada helped found Lady M as a wholesale business delivering cakes to hotels and restaurants in New York City. By 2004, the Lady M cakes had become so popular that the company decided to open a store in Manhattan's Upper East Side.^[3] Kumi Iseki, a restaurateur who owned the Shogun of Japan restaurants in California, was also an early investor in Lady M.^[4] Wada later relinquished ownership in Lady M so she could concentrate on business back home in Japan.^[1]

Ken Romaniszyn joined the business in 2008 through his mother, Iseki, and became the CEO.^[4] He has overseen its introduction and growth of online shipping, its expansion into new markets, and its launch of new product lines.^[5]

Following success in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Lady M opened its first boutique in mainland China in Shanghai in 2017 to huge crowds.^[6] It expanded rapidly in the country in subsequent years,^[3] but in 2022 announced the closure of all Chinese stores.^[7]

In 2021, Lady M opened its first champagne bar at its Singapore boutique in the ION Orchard mall.^[8]

Locations

As of 2023, Lady M operated boutiques in the following locations.^[9]

Asia

Singapore (5)

Hong Kong (7)

Macau (2)

Taiwan

• Taichung (1)
• Taipei (3)
• Hsinchu (1)^[10]

North America

United States

• Arcadia, CA (1)
• Bellevue, WA (1)
• Boston, MA (1)
• Chicago, IL (1)
• East Rutherford, NJ (1)
• Houston, TX (1)
• Irvine, CA (1)
• Los Altos, CA (1)
• Los Angeles, CA (1)
• New York City, NY (6)
• San Diego, CA (1)
• San Jose, CA (1)
• Washington, DC (1)
• Woodbury, NY (1)