Extreme Action Girl & Apparel Designer
Us Girls Owner and Designer Lane Davey aka LANESKI
While pioneering and paving the way for women's extreme sports, designer Lane Davey learned to mix action with fashion. Unlike most girls who were born in that era, Lane was not intimdated by those who told her "Girls don't do that" She became one of the first and orginal B-girls (breakdancers) in the early 80s, one of very few women who surfed in the early 90s, a fixture at some of Oahu's most dangerous surf spots and one of the first apparel designers to incoporate functionality into women's fashion, giving a foothold to what is now known as women's action sports apparel.
Early Years & Lane's first published clothing design
Lane was born in Nashville, Tennesse 1970. At just five years old she took up gymnastics, ballet, tap and later she was top of her age group in swimming competitions, but it wasn't until her parents moved to Seattle Washington that she became a serious gymnast. When she started competiting on the elite (Olympic) level of competition at age 13, she began designing her own leotards and thus made the connection with sports fashion. One of her designs was so well liked by the manufacturer that they traded her the suit for the use of her design in their catalog.
Orignal B-Girl Pioneer (becoming Laneski)
An infatuation with Michael Jackson was what first sparked her desire for breakdancing in 1983, but it wasn't until she enrolled in a class taught by the Seattle Circuit Breakers that she really became a B-girl. At the end of the class the crew recruited her and took her under their wing teaching her about Hip Hop culture, showing her a new side of life and giving her the name LaneSki. There were very few women dancing in the circles back then and even today few girls have mastered the power moves of foundation style b-boying that LaneSki did in the ealry 80s. Other than being one of the first women breakers in Seattle, she was also noted for being one of the first b-boys to master the Thomas Flair in her city. read more
Ushering in a new era of Women's Surfing with her own label Us Girls
Lane's parents moved to the Big Island of Hawaii late 1985. The male dominated and heavily localized surf spots were nothing new to LaneSki when she began surfing in 1987. Her Hip Hop background seemed to be a footstool into an arena where girls and caucasians weren't always welcome. In 1989, she moved to Oahu to pursue a fashion degree at the University of Hawaii and found herself falling in love with some of the worlds most notably dangerous waves.
It was no accident that upon graduation in 1993, Lane would design the first women's boardshort. There are a lot of companies who try to lay claim to it now, but most of them are men who lets face it had boardshorts for 20 some odd years before developing a women's short. "Truth be told, the reason noone wanted to incorporate a women's boardshort into their label was because they did not support the idea of women surfing, at all which is why I started my company and called it Us Girls" says Lane Davey. She claims that it is the original women's surf line and quite possibly even the first real women's action sports apparel line. In 1994, Lane proved her legitmacy as a surfer by winning the Hawaii State surfing Championships and then turned pro. In 1998, while still managing an account list of about 50 stores and distributor in Japan, she put her surfboard in one hand and her sample bag in the other to promote her label as she traveled the world on the ASP Pro Tour. (see Lane's surfing resume)
Discouraged by the 1-2 ft beach breaks on tour, she eventually opted to stay home and enjoy the world class reef breaks right in her backyard while spending more time with her newly wedded husband & professional surf photographer Sean Davey. At that time Lane began pursuing bigger waves in an arena which was and is still pretty unknown to women. Lane has surfed waves in the 18 ft range at Waimea Bay (30 ft face) and was most likely the first women to paddle out to the 2nd reef at Pipeline which is where the waves break in the 12-15 ft range. For years she was the only girl out on any kind of consistent basis untill the movie Blue Crush came out and kindled a curiosity for women surfers to attempt it.With that short fuse, Lane worked alongside legendary surfer and promoter Banzai Betty to hold the first women's surfing contest at Pipeline in 2005. She continues to lead the charge of women at Pipe and has been instrumental in making it a concievable pursuit for women.
Currently,
Lane still surfs Pipe every day and hopes to one day ride the perfect tube from the 2nd reef. Laneski aka B-Girl Yoda still dances and is actively involved with the Hip Hop community in Hawaii and abroad. She has taught classes and does workshops to perpetuate the art and meaning of the dance. She donated her Puma' sand pictures to the Smithsonian's upcoming Hip Hop Wont Stop exhibit. She has traveled to Minneapolis for the last two years to be a part of the first all girl Hip Hop Summit and displays her designs there. In August 2008, she hopes to attend another women's Hip Hop event in Berlin. She continues to sell her label Us Girls in limited and exclusive urban boutiques, is a freelance designer and writes for several magazines. Lane and her designs has been featured in magazines and media locally and around the globe.
Her vision is "to help enhance the image of women, by gaining influence, recognition, and creditability for our achievements, and to accomplish this goal while projecting femininity, respect and dignity."
Lane's My Space
