OGBFF: Just Two Silly Goofy Girls
Read on for our exclusive interview with Angela and Lauren below. Disclaimer: it gets goofy.
I think that a lot of the things you guys do are so representative of this moment in pop culture and fashion, but they also remind me of the graphics that a lot of us grew up with, just for an older audience. What inspired OGBFF and the whole vision behind everything you guys do?
Lauren — The pillars that initially set the foundation were humor and friendship. We were just having so much fun. We were new to each other and we had this budding friendship and we just had so much fun together. And we're just obsessed with memes and making jokes, even prank calling — we're just immature and goofy girls.
Angela — And we didn't seek out OGBFF; I feel like OGBFF found us.
I wanted to bring up your friendship anyway because of the name of the brand. You mentioned that you were kind of new friends at the time, so how did you meet?
L — We met — it's funny — we met on set, at a music video where neither of us had roles.
A — We weren't even extras.
L — We were just invited because we knew someone who was managing the artist and we both pulled up to this farm in Malibu with no role, no purpose.
A — We got stranded there. We were both stuck in a van.
L — Yeah, and it was raining and cold. It was just a hilarious day and that was how we initially met and then we just followed each other on Instagram. We kind of formed one of those, 'We like and comment on each other's picture' kind of relationships.
A — Then we hung out again later, months later.
On that note, I also wanted to talk about how social media can really connect people. I first saw OGBFF on Instagram and I know that you also sell some of your stuff on Depop. You have a presence on TikTok as well. How have all of those apps helped you guys build your brand?
L — I think TikTok has been the most powerful force. Just because of the immediate impact of going viral, in combination with the other things. Like you mentioned, Depop gave us our initial platform to sell because when we started off, we were only selling over Instagram to our friends. So when that audience started to expand, Depop gave us a way to be trusted by people. And then Instagram is just our main mode of communication with the people that are interested in the clothes we make.
I think that point that you make about TikTok is something that so many creators would agree with too, because it's been such a big force in propelling independent brands. Can you think of one moment or one TikTok that you posted that was kind of like, 'Okay, now there's momentum'?
A — Yes, we didn't even have an official TikTok joint account yet.
L — Yeah, it was just on my page. I remember, we were launching; it was this past summer. We invited our friends Beanie and Chessa to do a photoshoot in the living room of the house we used to live in. I had been obsessed with TikTok. At this time, I had just quit my job at a record label because I was so obsessed with TikTok and I was TikTokking everything. So I, of course, made a TikTok about this photoshoot and it was like, 'Hi, I'm Lauren and this is Angela and we just started a brand,' and it was just clips around our living room of Beanie and Chessa. They're both totally LA cool girls, so they just looked awesome in our clothes.
A — We only had a brand Instagram at the time and people were just running to the Instagram, DMing us, 'What size is this? How much is this?' because we had posted a sheet of all of the customs we made.
L — That was our first drop. It was literally just a piece of paper with the items that we had.
A — People were zooming in on certain things and saying, "I want this.'
L — We came together that day after going viral, because we weren't together all day. And then we just sat on the couch for four to six hours. I was like, 'I'll start at the top. You start at the bottom. And we'll meet in the middle, answering all these DMs.'
A — We were like, 'What do we say?' It was a lot.
L — We absolutely did not expect it. We were not prepared.
A — I didn't know it was happening. Lauren called me in the morning saying, "Angela, we went viral on TikTok.'
And you guys originally started making everything on your own, just you two, right? Do you still make it all yourselves?
L — Yeah, we still make everything. We have one printer that prints everything that’s sent out. It's us packaging it. Angela has sewn in every tag for every order. We are just completely doing this.
A — Right now we're also on our third day of being up for 24 hours.
L — We've been having like 11, 12 hour days of just printing and packaging. Because we made a promise.
A — We made a promise and we're gonna keep it, okay?
I appreciate that though because that's another really cool thing about small businesses — they have that personal touch. The fact that you sew in every tag — that's so cute. I want to go more in detail about the process of you guys making your products; how do you guys do it?
A — On a DTG printer.
L — Direct to garment. We send designs from the computer and it just prints right onto the garment. And then we dry it with an iron to set it.
Your designs and quotes are always super quirky. They're always super relatable. You can tell just from looking at your guys' page that you're into memes. How do you come up with all the quotes that you put on your t-shirts and your products?
L — We try to not be too topical and we try to not draw on things that are trending because trend cycles are so quick. We try to make things that are just completely inspired by us. And we found out early on that our senses of humor just aligned perfectly. But our senses of style are very complimentary. I'm so weird. I will think of like 12, stupid, weird — no one would ever wear these designs, and I could do that all day. So when we work together, Angela is able to identify when something is actually good. Then we take it right to Photoshop and it's as easy as that because we have the printer.
So you guys kind of balance each other out, which is something else I wanted to talk about — you said you both have similar senses of humor; how would you describe them?
L — Yeah, we definitely have similar humor. We are making jokes all day in the studio together. It's exhausting.
A — It's exhausting how funny we are.
L — It's hard work, but it's honest work. I mean the very beginning of this brand started as us wanting to have a shit-posting meme account. We would just post a bunch of really stupid, deep-fried memes.
A — I think the Instagram account is still up.
L — It was called 'Female Shit Posters.'
L — Then it was one design that we made; we had been friends for four months at that point and we were like, 'Let's make a t-shirt to commemorate our friendship.' So we made our first our first design, which said 'Back off, I have a crazy best friend.'
A — We were kind of always doing things from the second we linked up. We're just really creative together, naturally, not even intending to be. Lauren always had her video camera, I'm into sewing, we would make music videos — you know, just anything. And then one night we're sitting on my floor drinking wine and we decided to make a graphic. We thought, 'Let's put it on a shirt and wear it.' And then we posted it the next day and our friends all wanted one.
My personal favorite OGBFF graphics are 'Hot Person at Work,' because who doesn't wanna be the hottest person at work? And my other favorite is 'Niche Internet Micro Celebrity.' Which graphics do you each identify with most and why?
L — The genesis of 'Hot Person at Work' is hilarious. We wanted to sell in person, so we got a plot at the Los Feliz market. The night before, Angela was like, 'We have to print matching shirts for ourselves for when we work there.' We decided on that and I cooked up the four words and that was it. So we made two and wore them. Our whole vibe being at that market was just ridiculous. We had someone there filming us and we were just Tweedledee and Tweedledum bopping around. It totally wasn't the vibe of anyone else there. We didn't ever plan on dropping the shirts, but then everyone wanted them. But I love 'Flop Era' for so many reasons. I love the color scheme so much. I love the simplicity of it. It's just two words, but it's so relatable. Then the graphic designer in me loves the 'Simple Girl' one too. It's really satirical.
A — I really like the 'What Would Debbie Harry Do?' or 'What Would Courtney Love Do?' And 'Ironically Hot.' I love that one.
I know you’ve created different collections with a range of inspirations, like your Paris Hilton collection. If you could reincarnate as any 2000s legend, who would you pick and why?
A — There's too many!
L — My answer is so different now than it would have been back then. During this era — this would've been my middle school era — I was obsessed with Hayley Williams. I thought she was the coolest chick on the planet. That's just the first person that comes to mind.
A — I've always been obsessed with Gwen Stefani. I remember I took MySpace pictures in 2005 after the “Hollaback Girl” video came out. I was 10. I put on the same beanie and wife beater and had my friend take a picture of me. Bad bitch.
I’ve seen your tees on just about every influencer and internet personality out there. Is there anyone specific you would love to see in your clothing?
A — I would love for Courtney Love to.
L — Yeah, she should wear OGBFF — or she would see OGBFF and either really dislike it or really fuck with it.
A — We want it on Bella Hadid. We've talked about that.
L — Oh yeah, Bella needs her moment.
I feel like that would happen. That's a matter of time.
L — It'd be funny to see OGBFF on a politician, in a really inappropriate way. We were just joking about what our platform would be if we ran for governor. As long as we're making a joke, everything's cool.
Check out some exlcusive photos that OGBFF shared with office below.
