• Lauren Schiller and Angela Ruis run a "Y2K" inspired clothing company out of an apartment in LA.
• The business saw a bump in sales after they sent the product to influencers like Emma Chamberlain.
• Their brand is just one example of a small business using social media to boost product interest.

It's no secret that internet star Emma Chamberlain has a huge influence over her millions of followers. Anytime Chamberlain promotes a brand – especially for free – it's a big deal.

That's why in December, when Chamberlain posted a photo to Instagram wearing a 2000's inspired tank top that read "niche internet micro celebrity" and tagged the company – OGBFF (original best friend) – the cofounders were thrilled.

The only problem was that the shirt Chamberlain tagged was custom made just for her.

"We sent her maybe like five or six shirts, and one of the ones she posted in and tagged was just something that we made especially for her," OGBFF cofounder Lauren Schiller told Insider. "It wasn't even a design that we were selling on our website."

The company's cofounders, Schiller and Angela Ruis, who were running the business out of Schiller's bedroom in Los Angeles, had to move fast to take advantage of the moment.

Immediately, they knew they'd have to get to work on printing more tees.

A tag from Chamberlain, who has 15 million Instagram followers, among other creators – like Addison Rae, TinyJewishGirl, and Devon Lee Carlson – has helped this small business draw in around 300 orders per week, according to documentation viewed by Insider. With the cheapest tees selling for $35 each, that's at least $40,000 a month in revenue, which is broken up between website sales, wholesale orders, and Depop, they said. 

OGBFF is one of many small businesses to capitalize on the power of  social media — and more specifically influencers — to supercharge product interest. A post from a top creator can cause businesses from slime maker to a seltzer company  boom.

Schiller, 24, and Ruis, 27, designed and printed their first graphic tee together in February 2021 as a joke, Schiller said. 

"We decided to commemorate our new friendship with a shirt," Schiller said, adding that they met at a shoot for a music video. At the time, Schiller was working at a record label in LA, and Ruis was making clothing.

"We were sitting on Angela's floor, giggling over PhotoShop, making this first design with the intention of printing shirts just for ourselves," Schiller said.

"We posted it online, and then our friends wanted to buy it from us," Ruis added.

The company got off the ground with three simple tools: Google Sheets, Instagram, and Venmo. Then they launched a Depop, and as they became more popular on social media, they launched a website. Running the company has become a full-time job for both Schiller and Ruis.

They haven't done any paid advertising on Instagram. Instead, they send PR packages to influencers who they believe will appreciate Y2K-inspired brand. 

The brand's early 2000's aesthetic and catchy, meme-like phrases — "flop era," "hot person at work," and "this is your sign from god that I'm hot" are top performers — have helped it attract a Gen-Z audience.

The brand's own Instagram account, which has 25,000 followers, is also an important marketing tool.

Schiller and Ruis said they pay close attention to the Instagram account's backend insights. They learned that images of just the product, even if they were holding it up, performed better than a photo of someone wearing it. They also figured out which creator images drove more interest and sales.

The pair also uses the platform's in-app shopping tools to help their customers make purchases without having to leave the app.

Now, less than a year into officially launching the brand, Schiller and Ruis are looking forward to hosting a pop-up event at a thrift store in Brooklyn this month, and soon they'll move their operation out of Schiller's bedroom into an office space. 

"I don't know what people think, but it's just honestly crazy," Schiller said. "We're printing out of a bedroom, working pretty much around the clock, but we love doing this. We are moving into a studio space soon, which will be revolutionary for us. It's seriously going to change the game."

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