Today we’d like to introduce you to Imani Lanier.
Hi Imani, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am in the process of launching my new brand, which is the culmination of my life’s experience. Laven Gray.
Laven Gray was never a passing idea, it’s the sum of a life built on creativity, vision, and reverence for craftsmanship. This brand is not the beginning, but the culmination of decades of experiences that have shaped how I see the world and what I choose to create within it.
It all began with my grandmother. A high school art teacher in Los Angeles, she spent summers showing me how to translate thought into form. She put pen and paper in my hand, a camera around my neck, and asked me to make something beautiful. She didn’t just nurture my creativity, she made it non-negotiable.
From there, the path unfolded through skateboarding, music, photography, and the distinct rhythm of Southern California life. I chased what I loved. I immersed myself in design, starting as an assistant in Downtown LA, learning the mechanics of construction, materials, and process. But more than technique, I was drawn to how design could reflect culture and identity.
I became one of the early contributors to what would later be called streetwear, working with pioneering brands like XLarge, Freshjive, and Supreme. I founded Biast in San Francisco and co-created Junkies Wear, a tribute to vintage aesthetics. Returning to LA, I co-founded Coldsmoke, an outdoor lifestyle brand grounded in technical performance and California cool.
My journey became global. I designed Levi’s first premium line, Levi’s Red. I moved to Hong Kong to design for Nike Asia Pacific. I served as a creative consultant for Bass Pro Shops and became Creative Director for Casamigos. I’ve led campaigns and creative strategy for Beats by Dre, Super73, Universal Music Group, and Marshall. Each step added a layer. Each project refined the vision.
After more than 30 years spanning apparel, product development, brand building, publishing, and creative direction, it was time to bring it all together under one name.
Laven Gray is that name.
It’s a curated imprint of a life in design. A distillation of every chapter, built for those who seek not just luxury, but meaning. Laven Gray is for those who understand that true quality isn’t loud. It whispers. It lingers. It holds the weight of story.
This is a brand for the discerning. For those who live intentionally. For those who see the soul behind the surface.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
If I’m honest, it’s been less of a road and more of a wave — shifting with the tide, the season, the atmosphere of the times. Some days you’re gliding effortlessly. Others, you’re tumbling beneath the surface, learning how to breathe underwater.
Over the past 30 years, the most consistent challenge hasn’t been creativity itself, it’s been navigating people. Not in a cynical sense, but in the way creatives are often tasked with interpreting the world through intuition, only to be met with feedback shaped by trends, secondhand influences, or a cousin’s opinion about what a logo should look like. More often than not, it’s those furthest from the creative process, those anchored in finance or hierarchy, who feel most compelled to guide the creative act. That tension has always existed: the push and pull between art and commerce.
As a creative director, I’ve had to learn when to stand firm in vision, and when to step aside and let others take the reins, even if I knew the outcome before it played out. I’ve watched ideas get diluted, projects detour off course, and brands sink in ways I quietly predicted. That part stings. But it also teaches you clarity. Pattern recognition. Grace.
Eventually, you stop asking for permission to create the world you see in your mind. You begin building it. That’s where I am now, returning to the dream I’ve had since the beginning: to design with intention, to lead with instinct, and to bring to market objects and experiences that resonate deeply, not just loudly.
That’s the work of Laven Gray. That’s the wave I’m on now.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Vision De Lanier / Laven Gray ?
At the heart of everything I do is vision, not just what can be seen, but what can be felt. I founded Vision De Lanier as a creative consultancy to help brands articulate their soul. Whether it’s through visual identity, product design, or cultural storytelling, I collaborate with individuals and companies looking to move with purpose and clarity. From global names to emerging innovators, Vision De Lanier is where strategy meets intuition, where aesthetic becomes language.
And now, I’m channeling everything I’ve learned, every wave I’ve ridden creatively over the years into Laven Gray.
Laven Gray is more than a brand. It’s a living gallery of design, ritual, and limited-edition beauty. We begin with a sculptural candle collection, each vessel custom-designed, each scent curated as a form of sensory storytelling. But this is just the starting point. Laven Gray is a seasonal curator of objects of desire: home, beauty, apparel, and collectible works that straddle the line between art and function. We release one drop at a time. Measured. Intentional. Like a poem.
What sets us apart is our philosophy. We don’t chase trends , we honour timelessness. We don’t mass produce, we design for the few who seek meaning in material. Every detail, from fragrance notes to packaging to editorial content is composed like a symphony. Laven Gray is rooted in narrative, in slowness, in craft.
What I’m most proud of is the way we’ve chosen to build. Quietly. Thoughtfully. Without compromise. Every collaboration, every object, every image is part of a larger story, one that invites the audience to be both collector and co-creator.
To your readers: Laven Gray is not just something you buy. It’s something you experience. Something you live with. And Vision De Lanier is the lens through which these kinds of creative worlds come into focus.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I’m most alive when I’m inspired, when my senses are lit up like a quiet fire. A colour, a texture, a fleeting moment of light, anything can spark it. Inspiration is the ignition point. But what brings me true joy is the alchemy that follows: taking that inspiration, shaping it, letting it evolve into concept, then into form. Watching an idea travel from abstract feeling to tangible object, that’s magic.
The deepest reward comes when someone connects with what I’ve created. When the final piece evokes something real in another person, a memory, a mood, an emotion they didn’t expect. That shared resonance… it’s everything. It’s why I create.
But inspiration isn’t just for the studio. It’s in the rhythm of travel, the taste of something unfamiliar, the sound of a stranger’s story. It’s in the spaces between, the everyday moments that ask us to be awake. That’s what I live for: to feel something, to make something, and to offer it back to the world with meaning.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lavengray.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laven.gray/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LAVENGRAYstudio
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imanilanier/
- Other: https://www.visiondelanier.com
