Sonya Dakar’s Famed Hollywood Spa Enters Chapter 11

The parent company of Sonya Dakar Skin Clinic, swanky West Hollywood spa to the stars, filed for Chapter 11 protection Tuesday.

Founded by esthetician Sonya Dakar in 1971, Sonya Dakar Skin Clinic’s first celebrity client was Drew Barrymore. It has since treated celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Sofia Vergara and Kyra Sedgwick, and it recently hosted a charity spa day with Vanessa Hudgens.

Treatments at the Sonya Dakar Skin Clinic include $450 facials, $350 diamond peels and spa days with prices only available on request. The company also sells a high-end skincare line.

The success of the spa and skincare line, however, has come at a high cost, leaving the Dakar family embroiled in numerous legal battles that have pitted Sonya Dakar, her son Yigal and her daughters, Daniella and Michal, against Sonya’s now-estranged husband, Israel, and her son Natan.

The company was put in bankruptcy by Michal Dakar, who says she’s president of the company but that Sonya Dakar owns 100% of the equity.

Israel Dakar sued Michal and Daniella Dakar and parent company Sonya D. International in 2009. According to court documents, he sued “to obtain ownership of real property which the defendant children understood had been given to them by their parents years ago.” It’s unclear what the status of that case is.

In addition to Sonya D. International, Hazlaha LLC—the entity that owns the clinic property at 9975 Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills—filed for Chapter 11 protection.  According to documents filed in a separate case, the property is worth $7 million, subject to a $4.2 million secured claim, and the title is in Michal Dakar’s name.

Separately, the family is involved in a lawsuit over the “Sonya Dakar” and “The Problem Skin Specialists” trademarks. Israel and Natan Dakar began a company called Mindy’s Cosmetics to sell the Sonya Dakar skincare line. When the trademark expired, Sonya Dakar renewed it in her name, causing Israel Dakar to sue.

The case is still pending, stayed until the couple’s divorce is finalized. Both companies are still using both trademarks.

Sonya D. International claimed fewer than $500,000 assets and between $500,000 and $1 million in debts and listed Israel Dakar as an unsecured creditor with an unknown and disputed claim amount. Hazlaha claimed between $1 million and $10 million in assets and fewer than $50,000 in liabilities.

This isn’t Sonya Dakar’s first Chapter 11 experience; she was named as co-debtor in her husband’s Chapter 11 case in October 2011. That case was closed last month.

Sonya Dakar had asked the court to dismiss that bankruptcy case, but the court found her motion was “warranted but unnecessary” because it didn’t appear that a Chapter 11 plan could be confirmed. Israel was barred from filing for bankruptcy again from January 2012 to July 2012.