The GvGallery, The Journey From West Seattle to Across The World

By RayJaun Stelly

Clothes were secondary in the eyes of J. Raspberry, Owner of the Gold Vintage clothing brand, now referred to as Raspberry Hills, who is hosting a pop-up shop at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners, this Saturday, April 5, from 1pm to 6pm.

But for those who are unaware, Raspberry was about everyone’s favorite barber who is from the inner-city of Seattle. If you knew him then like the world does now, you could tell he had an eye for fashion, yet Raspberry as a barber was amazingly talented and at J Styles Barber Shop on Rainier Avenue you would walk in and see how many people wanted him to cut their hair.

Building up such a resume and clientele, the time had come for him to spread his wings and fly on his own, which resulted in him getting a loft space in the SODO area for his clients to get their hair cut. Amid having his own space, something clicked for Raspberry, the creative switch came on and Gold Vintage became real life before customers, friends, family, and his own very eyes.

The loft space which started off with white walls, barber essentials such as a chair, clippers, a mirror, etc., a desk with a computer that had speakers to play music from, began looking like a collage of 1990’s to 2000’s and on. From vintage basketball jerseys hanging from the ceiling, pictures of entertainers from WordUp magazine or poster pictures of basketball players that you could rip out the magazine it was in. To add the cherry on top, the tv mounted on the wall, connected were old consoles such as Xbox or PlayStation with vintage games that were played on them.

Raspberry, brought the urban culture and feel back to his barber shop that majority of us grew up on and love dearly even to present day, with the barber aspect continuously growing rapid from customers to price increases, he and his younger brother Shakir known to the world as ‘BassKidsOnTheBeat’ would hit the ground running to start the clothing line. 

Whether Shakir was making beats for artists such as Chief Keef, Ballout, or Lil Uzi Vert, Raspberry had over twenty or more appointments a day, the two-headed monster spent early morning and late nights building the brand and producing quality merchandise for not only Washington but the world. That dedication led to former YouTube sensation and established artists known as Soulja Boy being the first famous person wearing the Gold Vintage brand.

What some would deem as success and stop working, they wanted more and put themselves out there to earn more, whether it was doing a ‘Pop-Up Shop’ throughout Washington to attract more consumers or keeping merch on them when they’re driving just in case they seen someone who wanted to buy some clothes. Hand-to-hand deliveries or shipping deliveries, Gold Vintage grew from what those from here wanted to wear to other states, countries and more importantly athletes and entertainers across the world as well.

In a world that is moved and revolved by fashion especially within sports and entertainment, it isn’t a surprise you see both Bronny and Bryce James wearing the brand, arguably the NFL’s best wide receiver in Jamar Chase wearing the brand religiously through the tunnel before games, Bengals Hall of Famer Chad Johnson wearing it on a show he co-hosts ‘Nightcap, or Seattle’s very own and number one pick in the NBA Paolo Banchero wearing the brand through the tunnel or in everyday life.

Regardless of if someone is of what some deem as status or not, the brand can be seen being worn on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter (X), or YouTube by toddlers, grade-school students, college students, or those who work an eight hour job every day, and what started as a dream has now become a million dollar reality. 

Raspberry, for the first time in some time, is having a pop-up shop here in Seattle, but this time he’s making history doing it in a baseball arena where Ken Griffey Jr played, and from 1pm to 6pm, you can expect the line to be blocks or even miles long, filled with people who camped out the night before or got there early waiting for doors to be open.

For more information on regarding Raspberry, the pop-up, and where to shop the brand online follow him on Instagram @thegvgallery or go to the website, www.thegvgallery.com.