Rich Joins Members Only Revival

Members Only is back.The classic 1980s brand still sells in mass-market discounters, but now it’s gearing up for a fashion revival under the design direction of New York designer Richie Rich.

Even Rich remembers the brand’s impact on the New Wave era.

“Members Only used to be a staple in people’s collections, but it became neglected and has been in the closet for a while,” said Rich, who along with design partner Traver Rains has been finding inspiration in all things ’80s for Heatherette, an offbeat contemporary collection the pair started two years ago.

Rich was hired to revamp the Members Only brand by Marc Stern, chief executive officer of Los Angeles-based Eagle Clothing, which holds an exclusive licensing agreement with New York-based Aris Industries, owner of the brand since the late 1980s. Stern said the current resurrection of ’80s fashion could be the brand’s second coming.

“Members Only is a strongly recognized brand, but it hasn’t been marketed in hip fashion circles and bought by a young customer in years,” explained Stern, adding that the brand’s signature jacket collection continues to draw strong sales nationally at Wal-Mart stores. “Now Members Only is opening its membership to a wider customer base with a new, hip look, which will go with the basic trend of the market with the 1980s coming back.”

Rich’s design talent, combined with his fashion eccentricities, were the reasons the company chose him to design the sportswear collection, Stern said, adding that part of the company’s mission was to hire a designer who could deliver a collection that would appeal to department stores and still cater to hip, fashion-forward customers.

Rich will have to take the label beyond its classic collarless cotton jacket image to create a full women’s sportswear collection.

“The main challenge is designing for a large corporation that mass-produces apparel, but I’ll just have to stick to my guns,” said Rich.

The Members Only sportswear collection, which debuts this fall for Back-to-School, will be made up of about 28 pieces, including novelty denim, embellished T-shirts and skirts. It’s sort of a mixed bag of outrageous fashion and conservative staple items. Rich said the collection’s denim will be designed more for function than fashion. One of the edgier items is a Michael Jackson–inspired gold leather jacket with purple lining.

Members Only will have a distinct image separate from the Heatherette line, Rich said.

“Members Only won’t be anything like Heatherette, but it will still have my personality splashed all over it,” he said. “It will have a lot of personality with a fashion-sensibility feel to it and great colors that can mix and match with everything in a wardrobe.”—Claudia Figueroa