Lucky Brand Merchandiser Survives 'Survivor'

Lucky Brand’s Brad Virata is back in Vernon, Calif., working on the company’s Holiday ’07 men’s line after spending several weeks in the Cook Islands, where he competed for $1 million on the CBS reality series “Survivor.”

Virata, the director of men’s merchandise for the denim brand, got voted off the popular show during the Nov. 17 airing. Though he won’t come away with the big prize, he was the first person to make it on the game’s “jury,” which will allow him to vote for the winner during the finale later this season.

Virata characterized the experience as being “the best and worst” experience of his life.

“It really is ’Survivor,’” he said. “They leave you out there with a pair of shorts and a machete and say, ’Have a nice day.’ At first I just kept saying to myself, ’What am I doing here?’”

Virata said his demise on the show came during one of the game’s challenges, when he chose to solve a puzzle rather than compete in a swim. His teammates said he made the wrong choice and it contributed to their loss.

Nevertheless, Virata said he remains friends with many of the other Survivors and said the experience helped him not take the little things in life for granted. “You learn a lot about yourself.”

He said the team at Lucky also supported him by giving him some time off as well as watching the show every week.

“A lot of them would tell me they’d watched the show and thought they were in a meeting with me or something,” he said.

Virata didn’t have much time to recover from his experience. He returned from the South Pacific on Aug. 7 and was back in the Lucky office on Aug. 9, working on Lucky’s growing men’s category.

He’s been with the company for about a year and previously spent five years with Guess? Inc., where he helped launch the company’s Atelier line. Despite his new television experience, Virata said the fashion industry is his first love and he will for now concentrate on denim and merchandising.

Robert McAllister