Behind the Vibe: The Bae Hoodie Set

Every DVU design has a story.

Sometimes it begins with a color. Sometimes it’s just a feeling. And sometimes, the vibe stems from a song I’ve heard a million times.

That’s exactly how the Bae hoodies came to life.

If you know me, then you know Brandy has been one of my favorite people since sis wanted to be down, and I’ve loved Monica since she warned homie not to take it personal.

But when I first entered the realm of Never Say Never, and all of the subsequent years, “The Boy Is Mine” has consistently been the ONE Brandy — and Monica, for that matter — song I could’ve done without.

I know, I know, I know…

But the back and forth was grating my nerves. Like, what are we arguing about?

Nonetheless, “The Boy Is Mine” carries music, memories, teenage me, and the debate that sparked a high school friendship that has bloomed into an infinite sisterhood.

At first, “The Boy Is Mine” lived in that classic back-and-forth energy.

Two girls.

One boy.

A lil drama.

A lil competition.

And, a whole lot of, “I could care less about this debate,” on my end 🙄

But with Bronica recently reuniting and igniting their own sisterhood in love, the energy of the song began to shift for me.

I’m riding around one day, listening to “The Boy Is Mine” when something clicked.

The Boy Is Mine.

Not “the boy is mine” as a debate, but the boy is mine.

That’s it.

That’s all.

I immediately knew it was going on a hoodie.

On one hand, I wanted to celebrate Brandy and Monica’s sisterhood, because it’s been a loooooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggg time coming, and I absolutely love it for them and us.

And on the other hand, I wanted to declare that the boy was, in fact, mine.

I didn’t waste any time cracking open the paint and getting to work. After getting my Keenan Ivory Wayans on, I was left with a fire “The Boy Is Mine” graphic that both Brandy and Monica would be proud of.

I was extremely proud of it myself, but in my Brandy voice, something was missing…

That’s where Bae came in.

After turning my boyfriend into a cute caricature and adding a few more graffiti-style paint splashes, the back graphic changed the whole game.

It turned the hoodie from a cute design into a wearable love story…

And then I wore it.

Now y’all know me — I make breathing look dope, so of course the hoodie was giving.

My homegirl took one look at my drip and needed one with her Bae on the back.

Now, I’mma be honest. At first, I was like, “Hold up… waaaaait.”

I’d said yes to making her one, because that be my first response to an invitation to create, but I felt a way in my spirit about it.

Not because I didn’t want to create for her, or because I didn’t see the potential, but because I had made something that felt personal to me.

While the original intent was to celebrate Bronica, once I started walking around with MY Bae on the back, shit changed.

All bets were off.

Because, what we doing?

I made this for ME.

Miserly? Maybe.

A tad bit possessive? Sure.

A little protective? Absolutely.

I had to sit with that all the way home from work that night.

Because sometimes the vision asks you to release something before your feelings have fully caught up.

Rude, but fair.

And by the time I got home, I had to remind myself of the original intent behind the graphic.

The whole point was love.

The whole point was expression.

The whole point was creating something people could feel connected to.

So if someone saw the hoodie and immediately thought of their own person, their own love, their own Bae, then that wasn’t somebody taking from the vision.

That was the vision working.

That was the idea coming to fruition right in front of me.

That was the moment the hoodie stopped being just mine and started becoming what it was supposed to become.

A custom Bae hoodie.

A wearable love story.

A way for people to claim their person with color, personality, and a lil attitude.

Of course, when I told Bae all of this — mine, not hers — he saw the vision immediately.

He saw it blowing up and becoming a big deal. He saw everybody and their mama rocking a Bae hoodie.

And I receive it all 😌

Because that’s Bae. He’ll take my spark and pour gasoline, glitter, LED lights, a parade, and a healthy dose of confetti on top before lighting the match.

How can I not devise a business plan after that?

But he wasn’t wrong though.

The hoodie had legs.

The concept had room.

And once I stopped clutching it like, “But this is mine,” I could see what he saw; what I’d originally seen and lost sight of.

This could be BIG.

Not because everybody needed my hoodie.

But because everybody’s love deserves its own version.

Not a stock Bae.

Not my Bae.

Not some random official character standing in for everybody’s Bae.

Your Bae.

Your person.

Your love.

Your vibe.

That’s where the Bae hoodie concept really opened up.

The front could carry the fixed statements, but the back had to belong to the person wearing it.

That’s the magic of it. The design gives you the energy, but the customization makes it yours.

Then, naturally, Bae saw mine and needed his own.

Because how was I going to be walking around in “The Boy Is Mine” with him on the back, and he didn’t have anything saying what needed to be said with his whole chest?

OK, Bae…

If you know me, then you also know I love me some VEDO, baby!

That’s how “I’m With Some Super Fine Shyt” entered the chat.

If “The Boy Is Mine” is the declaration, then “Fine Shyt” is the response.

Same love story. Different waves.

The “Fine Shyt” graphic gave Bae his own hoodie energy without making it feel like a copy-and-paste version of mine. It sports its own phrase, its own color wave, its own vibe, and its own way of standing beside “The Boy Is Mine” without sounding like it was trying too hard to match.

But in the name of consistency, the concept stayed the same: bold front graphic, custom Bae moment on the back.

That’s what made the set click.

Together, “The Boy Is Mine” and “I’m With Some Super Fine Shyt” became more than matching hoodies. They became two sides of the same love language.

And that’s the vibe.

The Bae hoodies are playful, bold, romantic without being mushy, personal without being too serious, and they let love show up with personality, color, humor, confidence, and a little bit of “I said what I said.”

That’s what I love about this set.

It started with something personal, but it grew into something other people could see themselves in.

A design born from my love for Brandy and Monica, and my own love story, became a way for other people to celebrate their love story.

And that’s exactly what DVU does.

Take a spark.

Give it meaning.

Turn it into something people can feel.

Then leave enough room for y’all to make it your own.

Because while I originally created the Bae hoodies for me… and Bae, we’re not boxing anybody’s butterflies in over here.

Y’all can flip ’em, remix ’em, match ’em, or make ’em your own private inside joke.

However the set fits your love, let it fit.

With love and light,

Ra’Sheeka Keonique

Founder of DOPE VIBEZ UNLIMITED

The brand built on unlimited love, peace & light