What are the biggest influences in your designs?DG: "Simply, our every day life. I get inspired by an array of places, people, music, and past and present eras. Just walking the streets of New York City and visually observing the way of life and fashion from Uptown to Downtown gets me super inspired. I also like to take notice to common interests, for instance my All Day I Dream About Burritos tee, I've been posting for years now on the Internet about my sick and sorry (and kind of embarrassing) Chipotle obsession. I see an entire following of people that respond and share that same exact interest with me. I love that because the way I look at it is like, "Oh sweet, I love this design and I want to wear it real bad and I know my mexican food cult will fucking drool over it as well." "How did you come across branding yourself and what's the journey been like this far following the launch?DG: "Creating this brand is something I've wanted to do since I was younger. When I was 10, I had this little book that I used to rip out shirt and pant clippings from magazines, cut and glue them onto the pages of exactly how I wanted the outfits to look instead. It's pretty odd to think about, but I guess it all kinda sorta makes sense now. In college I took business classes that helped me better understand the ins and outs of becoming an entrepreneur, from the risks to the rewards. More recently, I was faced with a serious cancer scare that really put everything in life into perspective. Thankfully after months and a surgery later I received the news that I'm healthy and cancer-free. That chunk of time taught me that life truly is short and if there are any goals you want to achieve, start working towards them today. The key turning point is when you realize that you want it more than you're afraid of it. I was tired of spending all my time thinking "Well..what if..", so I gathered up my ideas and turned them into actual things. The day I launched my line basically felt like I built up a whole shit load of courage/confidence, closed my eyes, ran off the deep-end diving board, held my nose, and hoped for the best. Everything is going extremely well so far and I'm so stoked for everyone to see what is to come!"What is your longtime goal for your brand?DG: "World domination. No, just kidding (kind of). Ok uh anyways......I find it important to always remain true to your brand's philosophy by not hoping on the band wagon and caving in to trends or mimicking others for the sake of a buck. It's important to me to stay loyal and passionate and also work my ass off each day (See Also: HU$TLE HARD LADIEZ). Remember that nothin' good comes easy!"Sneak peek into what we can expect fall 2013?DG: "It's a little teeny tiny secret but I promise it'll make you feel like the coolest gal in the room."
