She transformed trauma into a new beginning.
In 2000, Sarah Clark was raped inside her Manhattan apartment by a man who hid in her closet, ambushed her and then evaded arrest for more than two decades. Clark, however, refused to let the attack determine the course of her life.
Now 50, married and the mother of three, Clark found a renewed sense of purpose by looking ahead. She also identified an overlooked need in the fashion industry: stylish, functional outerwear designed specifically for pregnant women.
“After the rape happened, I somehow made a decision that I was not going to let him win,” Clark told The Post. “I felt as though I was going to war. I fought back to get my life together.”
“I made a conscious decision that I was not going to let him win or dictate my life.”
That determination led her to launch B&Me — named after her third child, Booker — a company that creates coats and outerwear for pregnant women whose changing bodies can make finding the right fit difficult.
“I had no idea it was going to be such a big, important part of my healing,” Clark said. “It gave me something to do with my hands and create, and something that could help me make a difference in so many women’s lives.”
“I never, ever set out to do this, and I’m grateful that I had this problem because I was able to channel all of this energy into creating something that I think is so needed and so necessary,” she said.
The idea took shape during a winter walk through New York City with Booker. Clark recalled struggling against the cold while pushing a stroller and holding her preschooler’s hand.
“One morning I threw on my husband’s new extra-large parka, and the shared body heat between Booker and me kept us both warm and bundled. That’s what sparked B&Me.”
The garments are designed to accommodate a woman’s changing body throughout pregnancy. Adjustable zippers expand with a growing belly, while additional pockets and space allow mothers to cuddle a newborn inside.
At the same time, Clark had accepted that her attacker might never be identified. Then, more than 20 years after the assault, that changed.
In 2023, DNA evidence connected Jancys Santiago to Clark’s rape in her Midtown apartment on May 23, 2000, as well as to the December 2001 attack on 21-year-old Katy Vicchitto. She was asleep in her Bronx apartment when Santiago broke in and raped her.
Santiago was convicted in both sexual assaults. He received a sentence of 25 years to life for the attack on Clark in December and an additional sentence of 25 years to life for the Bronx assault in September.
“When the case resurfaced, I felt like I was putting my finger back into a hornet’s nest, and it brought up a lot of emotions that I didn’t expect to have,” Clark said. “It definitely knocked me down a little bit in 2023, but I’ve done much harder things, and I’ve climbed that mountain.”
Today, Santiago is behind bars, and Clark has embraced a new purpose.
“This is my chapter two,” she said.
