LAVI HOLDS TRUNK SHOW FOR "WELCOME TO THE BRONX" COLLECTION

Wednesday night, The Garment Hub x Lavi held a trunk show for LAVI’S Welcome To The Bronx Collection. Check out Lemon Brand’s conversation with the talented designers behind LAVI.

How is it like working with family everyday?

Jahri Washington: It’s fun, difficult, they’re annoying, but I love them. I wouldn’t want it any other way. There’s a lot of transparency here, that’s one of the pros with working with family, you know the person well so you know what they can and cannot handle.

Cedel Washington: I think it’s a blessing to work with one's that you’ve been working life with in business. It’s something that I would never change for the world. All of the things that he mentioned are true, but It’s also great that I can trust those who I’m doing business with.

Stacey Robinson: They’re brothers and I met them when we were kids anyway. Essentially, we grew up together, we’ve been through all of each other’s phases. LAVI was a work in progress for a long time and when we started we felt like it was the perfect time for it. Seeing it grow and seeing it develop into something, made it so much better because of the relationship we have with each other. All the celebrating and the crying and having that moment of “We did it”. Being able to look into each others eyes and knowing exactly how the other person really feels is amazing.

Cedric Washington: The foundation for the brand and our mantra for everything is “Love.” When you look at the pieces you can see that they’re rough but still made with love.

How did LAVI start?

Cedel: It’s been five to six years in the making. We had one solid idea from Cedric that had blossomed. Our issue was that we couldn't find one hub that we could all shop at and instantly be sold on their brand. So it became something we realized we had to bring to the table not only for ourselves but also other people that have the same issue.

Tell us about your individual aesthetics.

Jahri: We are all different. Like there are certain pieces that we all may like. I consider my style to be manly but aggressive. Their styles are different from mine, even in terms of color.

Stacey: Even though we all have different styles, we crush it in our own way. Everyone’s always like, “That’s so dope, I wish I could do that.”  We’ve found a way to bring each other’s tastes and aesthetics out by creating pieces that balance each of our individual styles. Jahri likes aggressive pieces, Cedel is more minimalistic with a statement piece thrown in, while Cedric is more playful and loves wearing color.

What was your inspiration for this season’s collection?

Jahri: The collection is called, “Welcome to the Bronx.” We took inspiration from where we’re from- the Bronx. We’re from Castle Hill but we’ve lived in many different neighborhoods throughout the Bronx. Many of the pieces are named after the places we’ve lived in. We have the “Hill High Collar,” named after Castle Hill, for example. We played off some of the names of the streets and neighborhoods.

Stacey: We think the Bronx is often times underrated so we wanted to honor it with this collection.

What does LAVI stand for?

Love. Amongst. Visual. Intoxication.