Industry Retail Products Clothing Founded 1975 | Key people Jaggi Singh Parent JR Apparel World | |
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Website www.membersonlyoriginal.com Headquarters New York City, New York, United States Profiles | ||
Members Only is a brand of clothing that became popular in the 1980s with its line of jackets. The brand was created in 1975 and introduced to American markets in 1980 by Europe Craft Imports. Members Only racer jackets were distinguished by their narrow epaulettes and collar strap and their knitted trim; they were manufactured in a wide variety of colors. Their advertising tagline was "when you put it on, something happens".
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In the 2010s, Members Only continued to launch seasonal collections carried at online retailers as well as brick and mortar stores such as Urban Outfitters.
Revival
The brand was licensed in 2003 by Maureen Regan of Kirtie Regan, who resurrected it and developed a new line of apparel after the bankruptcy of Aris Industries. At first, the brand was strictly for males with their tighter fitting bomber jackets. Maureen Regan relaunched the brand in 2004 introducing a women's line and added both men's and women's sportswear. The brand is currently owned by JR Apparel World. Since being acquired by JR Apparel World, Members Only has added many styles of jackets, a women's line and accessories including phone cases.
In popular culture
Communication scholar Todd Kelshaw has interpreted the brand's popularity surge as part of a broader American ideological shift in the early 1980s from participatory communities to materially-based communities represented in the purchase of consumer products. Members Only was known in the 1980s for their shift from celebrity endorsements as a form of advertisement, to public service announcements regarding issues like anti-drugs and pro-voting.