Our story
Before there was LÁAK, there was Machete.
A Labrador. More than fourteen years at Fabi’s side. And the question of what it really means to share your life with an animal.
Fourteen years are a large part of a life. Countless mornings and evenings, shared walks, changes and habits. Over that time, a dog is not a side note – he is a companion.
Machete was Fabi’s Labrador. He is no longer here – and yet he is the reason LÁAK exists.
“The bond with him changed how I think about what it means to share your life with an animal.”
LÁAK did not come from a trend, but from that connection. And from it comes a standard: to design things that do justice to what a dog means in a person’s life – and, over time, to give something back to animals.
The images of Machete on this page are artistic portraits.
Behind LÁAK
Fabi
Fabian Rauscher – Fabi – is from Germany, has Bolivian roots and now lives in Mexico. For many years he has moved between brands, creativity, entrepreneurship, streetwear, culture and people; he has built his own projects, developed brands and created products.
He doesn’t call LÁAK his first brand, but perhaps his most personal one. He wants to build something that works economically and leaves a positive footprint at the same time – for people, culture and animals.
The name
LÁAK – companion, fellow human, kin
The name draws on the Mayan word láak’, which Fabi translates as “companion, fellow human, kin”. A linguistic study of Lacandón, a Mayan language from Chiapas, gives the literal meaning of lak’ as “fellow, companion”.
So the name describes the relationship the brand grew out of: between people and animals, between product and origin, between economic growth and responsibility.
The symbol
A companion for millennia
The LÁAK mark shows a Xoloitzcuintle, a dog breed closely tied to the history of Mexico. In pre-Hispanic tradition, the Xolo is seen as the companion of souls on the difficult path to Mictlán.
It is LÁAK’s symbol not because it is exotic, but because few images describe so well what a companion means.
