PHOTOS BY LINDA DONG

DOPE.GIRL.FRESH. “A girl who does it big no matter the situation. Individual, unique and respects herself before anything.”

It’s a gorgeous Friday and two girls are on the 17th floor of a Beach apartment balcony waving down at me,  preparing for their second shopping party. Meet Laina Rauma and Angie Gill: founders and creators of Dope.Girl.Fresh. Attire, a SIIICK new option for all you ladies with a flavour for vintage, consignment, and one-of-a-kind pieces.

Dope.Girl.Fresh. attire is a creative collection of all-of-the-above clothing, shoes, purses, and THEBEST accessories. They’ve got it all: bold colours, sizes for real girls, evening wear, jackets, denim…the wishlist goes on. These items really are one-of-a-kind. Some have been altered by Laina, who was an 8-yr old-turned-seamstress by her grandma back in the day. She’s pulled out the bejeweller on a few things too. If you like lacey boyfriend jeans and rhinestone denim jackets, the Lady Gaga and Rihanna in you will def fall in love.

Laina and Angie gather their pieces from all over. “Do we really have to tell you? It’s top secret! We don’t even tell our girlfriends!” As you can see, this is a Vancouver exclusive that I just cannot express enough just how DOPE and fun it is. If you haven’t gotten the chance yet to have a drink and shop at one of their shopping parties, you aren’t doing your closet a favour. You’ve GOT to check them out online at www.dopegirlfreshattire.com.

Best friends since the 5th grade (they might as well be sisters), these ambitious “Surrey girls – the good kind!” are doing it big in Vancity – they’ve already been approached to do collabs and events! With backgrounds in dance, experience in the industry (both are brand reps for well-known brands and agencies), an eternal love for high-fashion and respect for their wallets (and their plastic – YSL cocktail dress? $2,000. Pass!), Laina and Angie have fantastically crafted this new line with fly style, kind prices and a genuine message: to support your fellow female, love yourself, and to do it big with class and style.

What I love about the brand and the girls is their down-to-earth love and respect.Aside from providing some great retail, Laina and Angie hope to change the way girls think. They want to see us girls inspire and work together. They call it a D.G.F. MOVEMENT.Dope.Girl.Fresh. is the girl that, when walking into a room everyone’s checkin’ her and loving her outfit. The way things are in this big-small city, (don’t lie, you’ve done it),  Laina says she’d like to see “instead of staring and not saying anything, or worse, running our mouths, approach her and actually tell her, ‘Hey, I like that! Where’d you get it?’” Angie agrees and  stresses that “there are so many pretty girls in Vancouver (the guys here are spoiled!)…and none of us are those bitchy girls, really.”

As stated by Laina, D.G.F. is the girl who turns heads. She does it big. She looks fly, and she knows it. She’s confident, but not stuck up.  She’s real.

All this girl-talk made my mind stray, just a little. I had to ask. Who is the dope boy fresh to dope.girl.fresh.?Attainable and unattainable,  strung with laughter and mile-a-minute feedback, here’s what I got (fellas, pay attention!):”No sunglasses in the club!” is what first came to mind for Angie. Each continued to express that the dope boy fresh is a man with style, swagger, confidence, passion, ambition, drive, and (if ya got ‘em) “clean shell toes”…or any cool kicks for that matter. As for their unattainable, celebrity dope boy freshes in mind? “Pharrell and Jay-Z!” Haha, these girls are fun.One day, they hope to open their own store; but in the meantime, look out for them at BC Fashion Week 2010 (possibility!) and remember them this up-coming holiday season where they plan to host another unisex (guys, get some for your girl) shopping party in December.So how long have they been around? The two had discussed the idea for years prior, but took the next step to turn their dream “to dress everyone” as exclaimed by Angie, this year. Dope.Girl.Fresh. was born New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2009. The name struck them while listening to Jay-Z’s Jockin’ Jay-Z (Dope Boy Fresh). The pair is primarily inspired by travel, people they see on the street, and high fashion; but really, sky’s the limit. When they go out and buy their pieces, it’s really about what catches their eye.After some navigation confusion, one spilled pink martini, admiring the view from Laina’s Beach apartment and chatting about clothes, I left with appreciation for Laina and Angie’s collection and words in mind: 

“Vancouver has fantastic style. Keep doing what you’re doing. Continue being individual.” Keep your eyes peeled for these two. They’re gonna “rise this city up!” D.G.F. MOVEMENT.

Find Dope.Girl.Fresh. Attire on Facebook (Dope.Girl.Fresh.) or follow them on Twitter (Dope_Girl_Fresh). Their website is www.dopegirlfreshattire.com