“What I’m inspired by is the energy that something has, and the things it makes me feel.” With this sentence, Lauren Schiller pretty much sums up her approach to fashion — experiential and based on vibes, rather than technical. Because as she confesses, her brand OGBFF was set to be a meme page intially… But you know, life’s twists and turns are unexpected and take you to places you had never dreamed of. Today, March 7th, the brand’s dropping a new collection inspired by the aughts, internet culture, and older sisters, so we took the opportunity to sit down with Lauren to discuss coolness, connecting people online, and how to learn from mistakes.
Hey Lauren, it’s a pleasure to speak with you. What do you recall as one of your earliest memories related to fashion?
Hi! SO nice to speak with you <3 I hope you’re having a fab day. So I remember my sixth grade birthday party was absolutely bananas. I don’t even know how/why my parents let me plan it, but it was a karaoke competition at a theatre in Houston with judges and everything, and I did a costume change in between songs because I allowed myself to sing two songs (bday girl privilege). I went under the stage and changed into this brown silk evening gown that I found at Goodwill the week prior and went back on stage and absolutely tore the house down with a rendition of Smile by Lily Allen. It felt so important for me to wear that dress, and I will absolutely never forget that moment.
I love the name of the brand — it’s short but striking, playful, and very internet-focused. How did you come up with it?
In 2021, when the brand was just taking shape, I had a list on my notes app called Brand Names (okay creativeee). Anytime I thought of something interesting, I wrote it down. I wanted the brand to have a long winded name, but with a shorter nickname, so the brand is technically ‘your original best friend’ but obviously no one’s gonna say all that when you can just say OGBFF. The whole identity of the brand from the beginning was just about doing things with friends, so OGBFF felt like the perfect name.
As an internet native, how would you say the digital world has impacted your view on fashion?
The internet fully helped decide where I fit in within the fashion industry. I am not a ‘designer’ technically, but I definitely am a creative director, and sometimes that’s enough. So much of fashion happens online — most pieces you see online, you’ll never see IRL and because of that, sometimes it’s just about the fantasy. Whatever technical skills I lacked, I was able to make up for with my ability to develop a community online. The brand originally was supposed to be a meme page, so it was always just about relating to people online.
Your philosophy welcomes mistakes, mess, and even chaos as part of the process. Tell us a bit more about how you keep calm while being aware of things that might be wrong.
I don’t feel like anyone expects perfection from OGBFF. There are definitely brands that will sell you ‘perfection’ and I think their audience has different expectations than mine. When you’re running a business, most things that happen are headaches and hard work, so I’m just fully prepared for things to go wrong — it’s just a little treat when they don’t. For instance, when you order OGBFF the auto email that gets sent to a customer says “your order will be shipped out in 3-5 days (hopefully),” so I also try to prepare my customers for the fact that things don’t go according to plan more often than they do.
People always focus on their successes. Since you’re transparent with being “a girl on her iPhone, Googling ‘how to add a product to your Shopify website’ and texting her model friends to come over and try stuff on,” I’d love to know one specific example of a mistake you made that helped you grow and learn (it can be OGBFF-related or not).
Two years ago, I signed up for a texting service that allowed me to directly text my seven thousand SMS subscribers — I would send really ridiculous stuff, pictures, and pop quizzes. Unfortunately, I didn’t read the fine print on the contract, and I wasn’t thoroughly checking the bank statements, and I ended up spending four thousand dollars PER MONTH texting people from OGBFF’s number. That was like…. really bad for business. But also… it happened, and I had to deal with it. And my favourite coping mechanism is posting about stuff online, so that’s what I did and it gave some people a good laugh.
Let’s discuss your latest drop, out March 7th. You say of it: “Memes have become a language that we all speak. Although my clothes aren’t memes, they appeal to people who speak that language.” What relationship do you draw between your clothes and internet culture, more specifically memes?
I don’t like to regurgitate what is already being done, but everything I do has an awareness of the current internet landscape. For instance, I would never print ‘demure’ on a shirt. I’m not interested in reacting to social media trends, I’m more so trying to explore other elements of a person’s style and persona that would even allow them to think something like “demure” is funny or relatable.
“The whole identity of the brand from the beginning was just about doing things with friends, so OGBFF felt like the perfect name.”
It’s mandatory: favourite meme and/or meme page at the moment?
I’m LIVING for the comments section on TikTok. Right now, I’m literally living there.
Fashion (and fashion people especially) sometimes takes itself too seriously, so it’s refreshing to find people and brands that can take the piss out of themselves. What role do humour and playfulness play in OGBFF in general, and in the latest drop specifically?
I genuinely find humour in everything and I think everything I do should be fun, because why not!! I live in a post-cringe utopia. I think there are a lot of ‘cool’ people that relate heavily to the things that I make and post, but they would never post it themselves because they have convinced themselves it is not cool, and once you free yourself from that… it’s easier to not take things too seriously.
This new collection, I just let it rip. I didn’t need anything to be profound or perfect, I just needed it to be cool. I knew the styling would take these pieces to the next level, and it really did. I want this collection to encourage people to have fun while they’re getting ready.
This new collection, I just let it rip. I didn’t need anything to be profound or perfect, I just needed it to be cool. I knew the styling would take these pieces to the next level, and it really did. I want this collection to encourage people to have fun while they’re getting ready.
You’ve said about this drop that it gives off “cool older sister vibes.” How so?
She can do something so simple and obvious, but because SHE did it, it’s so cool. Only someone with a cool personality can make something really simple look cool. Coolness doesn’t lie in the product itself, but the energy that you bring to it. I grew up with a lot of friends that had some really badass older sisters that passed down to coolest, wisdom, music and clothes to my friends, and I always idolised these girls. I wanted this collection to harness that energy.
As a curiosity, were you the cool older sister? Or did you have one that inspired you?
I think I am the cool older sister??? We’ll have to ask my sister. But the one that comes to mind is Becky — she was the ultimate cool older sister, and I was SO afraid of her. We are close friends now, HI BECKY!! She’s a video director out in New York, and I believe she knows how cool I think she is.
The style of the collection brings me to the aughts, but with a new take on that aesthetic. How do you balance nostalgia and innovation?
I try to look in unsuspecting locations for inspiration. I don’t look to the 2000s for inspiration, but since I grew up in that era, obviously my taste is a bit linked to that aesthetic. But I have such experimental taste in art, and I think it’s essential that I don’t look to fashion brands for design inspo; instead, I’ll look to music, performance artists, or interior design. What I’m inspired by is the energy that something has, and the things it makes me feel.
