Meet Devan Gregori | Founder & CEO of DEVAN GREGORI

We had the good fortune of connecting with Devan Gregori and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Devan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Most people start a business with a problem statement, a need they see isn’t being fulfilled somewhere. From there, they create a solution hypothesis that they test, and improve over and over again until…they finally come up with their product that fits in their market. It’s logical, it’s tried and true, and most importantly, it works!

But I didn’t do that.

I tried, but I found that it was stunting my creativity. Every time I’d design something, I’d start asking myself a million questions about what problem it was solving, what my mission was, who I was designing for, why I was designing, etc. There are all very valid, very important questions to have answers to. However in the beginning, there ARE no answers. So I was essentially putting myself in an arbitrary box before I knew what the constraints of the box were. I stagnated.

So instead, I just designed a collection, and I didn’t worry about answering those questions. I needed a starting point, and I gave myself permission to allow the label to evolve and change until it finally fell into place, until it finally felt like “me.” It wasn’t always easy because my perfectionism would get in my way sometimes. I’d feel as though I needed to have a solid and anchored brand right away to compete with all these other “small” brands I was comparing myself to. But I kept reminding myself that the beauty of being so small is that I had the ability to experiment and change without anyone really knowing or caring. No one would remember the first few branding iterations. So the pressure eased. And through that process, my style evolved, my brand identity changed, and my approach solidified.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have a bit of an unconventional career path that led me to where I am now. I used to think that a career path had to be linear in order to be successful. Mine has been anything BUT that, and I’m really grateful to have had all the experiences that this journey has given me.

I went to UC Berkeley and graduated with a degree in French. I was told that it didn’t really matter what I majored in during college – I’d get a job with a degree from Cal. So I didn’t really focus on creating a path for myself. I knew I wanted to be fluent in a second language, so I pursued French.

I moved to France, where I taught English and worked for the American Chamber of Commerce in Lyon, before realizing that I didn’t want to be an English teacher.

So I went back to school in France, and pursued something more creative. I ended up finishing with a second Bachelors degree in Fashion Design.

I worked for a luxury fashion brand in Mexico City for a while before moving back to the Bay Area where I entered the tech world. My thinking was, if I really wanted to start my own clothing line, I’d need a nest egg to fund it in the beginning. The tech industry was just coming into its Golden Age in the Bay Area, and I jumped on the bandwagon.

I worked as a project manager for a web design agency and then moved to a start up in Silicon Valley where I worked in product. All the while, I was designing and making drag costumes for drag queens in San Francisco as a way to keep my creativity and skills sharp. I also started teaching workout classes as a fitness instructor on the side as well!

It was in early 2019 when I decided to exit the tech industry and manage a small clothing boutique in Berkeley. I was more serious about starting my clothing line, and I wanted to gain some experience in retail management to see if I would like to have my own brick and mortar one day. It was an incredible experience, and I learned so much in a short period of time.

From there COVID hit, and everything shut down. I used this time to really launch myself full-time into designing my first collection. I had the time, and I wanted to take advantage of it.

After launching, I quickly realized that I wouldn’t be seeing a profit anytime soon, especially in a COVID economic climate. I was in this for the long haul, and with that, I’d need to re-enter the workforce to continue replenishing my nest egg. I re-entered the tech scene shortly after and worked at RH (Restoration Hardware) as the product lead for their e-commerce funnel. A fully-remote work situation allowed me to do both easily and gave me the flexibility to travel where I needed to for pop-up events and trade shows.

As the clothing line continues to slowly grow and establish itself, I wanted more autonomy on the tech career side of things, so I left RH and started a consulting agency. I worked with designers and engineers on a whole slew of different products for different companies – start ups, non-profits, local gyms, coffee roasters, restaurants, and even crypto products.

I opened up my first brick and mortar in December 2022, and quickly realized that I didn’t have the capacity to design and maintain the clothing company, manage its store, lead a consulting agency AND be a fitness instructor. So I decided to focus 100% on the clothing company, but also teach a few spin classes at Cyclebar on the side.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m an outdoorsy person, so I’d definitely want to spend as much time as we could soaking up the sun!

A weekend trip would definitely include a morning coffee to go at and then a hike up to the Griffith Observatory with my dog Stella.

Lunch plans would be at Nossa in Los Feliz. We’d make our way back over to Venice where we’d shop along Abbot Kinney for a bit. We would absolutely be spending time along the beach, with a few canned ciders by my favorite LA brand 101 Cider House (my favorite is their Cactus Rosé).

Dinner and drinks one night at the Melrose Umbrella Company in WeHo, followed by a secret excursion to No Vacancy.

If we’re lucky we’d be able to see The Other Art Show at the ROW DTLA one evening, followed by dinner at Yxta Cocina Mexicana and drinks at The Study in the Arts District.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Right before I started my company, I met Claire Harper. We instantly bonded over our shared entrepreneurial endeavors – she wanted to start a sustainable leather goods brand (Harper the Label), and I wanted to start a womenswear brand. We both started our companies at the same time, right before the COVID shutdown, and I can’t imagine what I would’ve done without her.

We became each other’s support systems as we navigated the entrepreneurial journey together. We leaned on each other, we cried, we shared successes, we helped each other in photoshoots, craft fairs, web merchandising and so much more. And we continue to do that today.

Her encouragement, love and friendship has been instrumental in my journey with the Devan Gregori label.

Website: www.devangregori.com

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