Designing for life’s rhythms
Studio Lani designs timeless objects and spaces that dance to a universal melody while tuning into a deep sense of place. With unique forms that radiate rhythm and warmth, every piece is designed to draw people in on a deeper level. Whether designing wearables like a bag, assistance devices like a walker, furniture or set design, form and function are carefully reconsidered to create enduring human connections.
We believe that design has the power to add value and solve problems. And when combined with art and craft, it can really motivate us to explore the unexpected and take courageous steps towards creating new futures. We do so with an openness to new ideas, a daring to discover new opportunities, and a great sensitivity towards materials. In doing so, we're reframing West African heritage as an integral part of our global future; drawing on timeless traditions to bring warmth, unity and dignity into people’s lives, so that we can all better connect with ourselves — and each other.
Portrait by Yagazie Emezi
awards + ReC. (Selection)
2023
1000 Design Classics - published Phaidon
2022
FIRST PRIZE - Salone Satellite (Milan) ‘Designing For Our Future Selves’ Award
2021
‘Great Women Designers’ WOMAN MADE, published by Phaidon
Designing Design Education, Book - published by IF Design Foundation
2020
Maison & Objet (Rising Talents Award) – Nominee, France
ELLE DÉCOR ’75 - International Women of Design’
Los Angeles Design Festival: 40 Innovative Womxn Designers
2018
Silver Award - European product design awards competition
2017
Dwell’s Young Guns: Young Designers Making Waves
WINNER – NYC’s Wanted Design's Launch Pad - Furniture
lani adeoye
Lani Adeoye is an award-winning designer who moves seamlessly between methods and mediums to offer new modes of living. Driven by her passion for blending contemporary design with traditional craftsmanship, as well as her Nigerian heritage, she creates objects with universal appeal and a deep sense of place, history and identity.
As the founder of Studio Lani, a design brand spanning furniture, lighting, wearables and assistance devices, her practice is wide-ranging but always centered on creating empathy and connection.
Her works have been acquired for the permanent collections of institutions including Montreal Museum of Fine Arts & Die Neue Sammlung, while numerous international recognitions include first prize in Milan’s 2022 ‘SaloneSatellite: Designing for our future selves’ award for RemX, an asymmetric walker which, as the jury stated, merges “Elegance and Dignity in a useful object for all”, cementing her reputation as an innovator. In 2020, she was selected by Elle Décor in its Women of the World: 75 Global Female Designers Worth Celebrating issue, she has been featured in Woman Made and 1000 Design Classics, published by Phaidon. In 2017 she won New York’s WantedDesign (Launch Pad) Furniture Award Competition.
While her practice is primarily based in Lagos, Nigeria, Lani is based between Africa, North America and Europe, with roots in Lagos, Toronto, Montreal, and New York. After completing her Bachelor of Commerce at McGill University, she worked as a corporate consultant before graduating from Parsons School of Design, where she currently teaches. This rich tapestry of interests and abilities gives her a diverse toolkit to reach for when solving problems; one that combines her analytical approach to function with an innate sensitivity to form.
Through her namesake studio, Lani enjoys collaborating with industry partners to create memorable objects and experiences for a global audience.
COLLABORATORS: EXHIBITIONS:
Philips Auction House 2022
Google Salone Satellite, Milan
Youtube 2020
Netgear Los Angeles Design Festival - 40 Innovative Women
Good Sense & Company Nyc London Craft Week
Bacchus 2019
A white Space Creative Agency Ghana - Africa By Design
Arise Fashion Week Design Kulture – Lagos
NYC - ‘Eyes on Talent’ Game ChangHER Exhibition
LECTURES & TALKS
2021 - University of Illinois, USA 2018
2021 - University of California, USA NYC - WantedDesign
2021 - Industrial Designer’s Society of America’s, USA Milan - Rising Design – Africa/Latin America
2021 - Tennessee State University, USA North Carolina – ‘Beyond the Mask’
2020 - IF Design Foundation Hearing, South Africa 2017
2020 - Parsons & Elle Décor – Design U, USA Lagos - African Culture & Design Show
2020 - NYC’s ICFF + Wanted Design (Unity by Design) NYC - Wanted Design
2020 - The Heritage Series, Nigeria 2016
2019 - Africa by Design Panel, Ghana Vancouver - Interior Design Show
Toronto - Interior Design Show
2015
NYC - ICFF Design Show