I’m Laneya Christine Johnson, and this is my story. I grew up in the Coachella Valley and first started sewing in 2018. Fashion has always been a big part of my life — even as a kid, I loved making things by hand, and I knew it was something I wanted to turn into a career one day. I began creating reworked clothing from my parents’ house and quickly gained incredible support from my community and sold all of them. My father passed away at the end of the year in 2021 as I was his caregiver and has been my biggest support system when it came to me first being a designer. My goal was always to make the girls and people around me feel confident in what they wore — and that vision led to great success as my sets became very popular. Building on that momentum,I created my brand called Bylaneyachristine and my slogan is "The feeling is sexy". The meaning behind that is I always want women to feel sexy in the pieces they wear from my brand. I launched my first collection, Bandana Collection (2020), followed by Denim Collection (2020), Fur Collection (2021), and finally, Teddy Bear Collection (2021). My most recent collection, Teddy Collection (2021), is by far my favorite project to date. I wanted to expand this idea and I created so many handmade unique pieces from my Teddy Bear Collection from bags, shoes, tops, bottoms, pants, and accessories. I first showcased my work at one of Los Angeles’ most popular flea markets, The Black Flea Market. The inspiration for this collection came from a bag — which sparked the idea to design and create my own signature piece, the Teddy Boots. These boots went viral and were later featured in the City Girls music video “Good Love” featuring Usher (2022) as well with other music videos my pieces has featured in. I’ve also had the opportunity to put pieces in these incredible artists such as City Girls, Ciara, Monaleo, London Hill, Aaliyahinterlude, Veondre, and many more. This journey has been nothing short of incredible — being able to create and handcraft each of my own pieces has been such a rewarding experience.
I’m truly grateful for all the love and support from everyone who believes in me and my brand. Thank you all for your continued support — I look forward to creating and designing even more for you in the future.
With Love, Laneya
