A decade after launching the upscale loungewear company, co-founders and friends Anne Read Lattimore and Cassandra Cannon continue to find inspiration in their Savannah lifestyle
Written by MARGARET DANIEL
Photography by KELLI BOYD PHOTOGRAPHY
FOR ANNE READ LATTIMORE AND CASSANDRA CANNON, life’s major milestones can be marked by their addresses and big moves.
After meeting during their college years through their husbands, Lattimore and Cannon celebrated the beginning of their adult lives with moves to the Hostess City — Cannon and her husband returning to their native Savannah, and Lattimore, a Mississippian, following her husband to a charming Ardsley Park house in his hometown.
Here, the two women became closer friends, sharing aesthetic inspirations, motherhood firsts and potential business ideas. Lattimore was working in the pharmaceutical industry, and Cannon was preparing to begin medical school when they realized there were significant market gaps in women’s sleepwear, so they left their medical careers behind and founded LAKE in 2014. Today, the Savannah-based luxury apparel brand is known for its stylish Pima cotton sleepwear and beloved by women around the world — including megawatt celebrities like Jennifer Garner and Jenna Bush Hager.
“One of our core values here at LAKE is family first. That’s how we personally go through life and what we want for all of our employees, too.”
— Anne Read Lattimore, CEO of LAKE
“We’ve dug into the data to learn the fabrics and silhouettes that resonate with customers,” says Cannon, who serves as the chief creative officer. “We’ve landed on what we see as the ideal sleep wardrobe, anchored in pajamas, with new, adjacent categories like loungewear and sweaters.”
The duo’s research has been rewarded with year-over-year revenue growth since the company’s 2014 founding — with yields jumping 50% and their customer base expanding by 185% in the last year alone — impressive figures that they say have allowed them to grow responsibly and self-fund the direct-to-consumer business without debt.
LAKE’s rapid expansion necessitated the purchase of an impressive fulfillment center in Pooler, a beautifully appointed West Harris Street headquarters and a buzzy Broughton Street design studio for the creative team. Posh retail spaces in Charleston and Atlanta opened in 2018 and 2020, respectively, allowing some of their 144,000 Instagram followers and customers a chance to see the magic in person.
“We look at each other like, ‘How is this reality?’ We love what we are doing, and we love this journey, so every part of it has felt really special and significant in its own way,” says Lattimore, who serves as CEO.
For them, a key to success is encouraging coworkers — many of whom are also mothers — to leave work at the office. After all, the brand is rooted in the art of leisure and rest.
“One of our core values here at LAKE is family first. That’s how we personally go through life and what we want for all of our employees, too,” Lattimore says. “At the end of the day, this is work, and we’re selling pajamas. The important thing is family.”
“Now, home is more rest and play time; not that I don’t ever work from home, but I like to separate those things as much as I can.”
— Cassandra Cannon, CCO of LAKE
To capitalize on their work-life balance, both women traded their Midtown residences for island life, embarking on impressive home renovations: Lattimore tackling a 1988 house in The Landings and Cannon a 1970 home on Isle of Hope, creating casual, relaxing retreats for their families — without home offices.
“In the beginning, home was a little more mixed up with work because we were working at home with babies, but as we’ve grown, we have evolved and have our own office,” Cannon says. “Now, home is more rest and play time; not that I don’t ever work from home, but I like to separate those things as much as I can.”
When it came to designing the interiors of their homes, it’s no surprise that two leaders of a formidable fashion brand would have strong opinions about what they wanted their homes to look like.
For her bathroom and kitchen renovations, Cannon enlisted local talent, including Gwyn Duggan of Gwyn Duggan Designs to create a Plain English Design-inspired space complete with painted V-groove millwork. Robyn Roberts of Robyn Roberts Design guided the Cannons through their remaining millwork designs, finish selections and decorative detailing, ensuring Cannon’s beloved English flair was the through line.
Meanwhile, Lattimore entrusted her kitchen, plumbing alterations and lighting selections to Charleston-based Torrance Mitchell Design, a historic preservation-focused interior firm founded by Olivia Brock. She also relied on her chic friend, Courtland Stevens of Courtland & Co., for help with fabrics and wallcoverings. Lattimore’s love of green is carefully woven throughout the home, popping up on walls, draperies, upholstery and in her art collection.
“We are comfortable taking our time, and this frustrates our husbands to no end,” Lattimore says. “They don’t understand why we can’t walk into one store and pick out all the furniture for the house.”
While the founders share similar aesthetic visions, their pajama storage and LAKE favorites are uniquely their own. Cannon dedicates a dresser drawer to her collection of Pima Weekend short sets, while Lattimore prefers to store her Pointelle Pants Bundles in a built-in cabinet tucked inside her walk-in closet.
“I also love our Relax Sets. I don’t sleep in those, but I switch into that when I am hanging out in the house,” Cannon notes.
“Relax Sets are what I put on when I get home and am like, ‘The day is over,’” Lattimore adds. “They’re piddle clothes.”
With their Relax Sets on and a cocktail (preferably a margarita) in hand, Cannon and Lattimore welcome the chance to piddle and mull about — rearranging furnishings and decorative objects in their living spaces, enjoying slow evening walks along the water, looking for design inspiration in each pattern and coastal landscape they encounter.
“Savannah is inherently tied to our brand,” Lattimore says. Indeed, some of the city’s most beautiful homes have served as photoshoot locations for their marketing campaigns. “There’s an ease and graciousness to this region that ties back to our product. It’s easy, comfortable, incredibly soft and yet still polished. The slower pace and sense of ease really shine through.”
Although coastal life may move at its own speed, the founders are wasting no time and are looking ahead to their next corporate milestones. As LAKE celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, they are launching a special collaboration with the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia in May. Cannon and Lattimore are also being honored as Inc.’s 2024 Female Founders 250 — a star-studded list of the most dynamic, inspiring and trailblazing women founders who have had the biggest impact in the past year.
“It’s been so rewarding to build LAKE in Savannah,” Cannon says. “It’s not necessarily the first place you’d think of as being a major apparel hub, and yet there are so many strong female founders in the region. We’ve experienced a lot of brand recognition in the Southeast, but as our business has grown over the past decade, major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Dallas are also in our top markets. We love sharing a sense of Savannah with them.”
SCOUT’S HONOR
Inspired by LAKE’s birthplace, Lattimore and Cannon are celebrating the company’s 10-year anniversary by giving back to the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia. The Camp LAKE collaboration, launching in May, celebrates the history and adventurous spirit of the Girl Scouts with a fun, woodsy pattern printed on Peruvian Pima cotton and available in LAKE’s signature Kids Shorts Set and Long-Long Sets. A portion of the pajama proceeds will fund renovation efforts at Girl Scout camps throughout the state of Georgia.
“We love supporting local organizations, and all that the [Girl Scouts] have done for young girls is so inspiring,” Cannon says. “We love the idea of being outdoors and inspiring young girls to be outside, too.”
“We are a business that is primarily of women — women-led, women-owned — so supporting girls will always feel right,” Lattimore adds.
Lattimore Residence
- Homeowners’ names: William and Anne Read Lattimore
- Year built: 1988
- Neighborhood: The Landings
- Builder (2018 renovation): Basin Company
- Builder (2021 renovation): Brooks Construction
- Interior Designers: Olivia Brock; Courtland Stevens
- Furniture/Accessories: Courtland & Co.; Tapley’s Mercantile & Antiques; Clutter
- Furnishings & Interiors: Picker Joe’s Antique Mall & Vintage Market
Cannon Residence
- Homeowners: Pierce and Cassandra Cannon
- Year built: 1969
- Year renovated: 2021
- Neighborhood: Isle of Hope
- Interior Designer: Robyn Roberts Design
- Builder: Barry Koncul
- Kitchen Design: Gwyn Duggan Design; Robyn Roberts Design
- Landscape: Victory Gardens
LAKE Headquarters
- Year built: 1840
- Neighborhood: Downtown
- Builder (2021 renovation): Brooks Construction
- Fabric & Wallpaper: Schumacher
- Furniture: Lee Industries; Made Goods; Williams Sonoma
- Flooring: Culver Rug Co.
- Lighting: Visual Comfort & Co.
- Art: Catherine Booker Jones
- Paint: Benjamin Moore
