Members Only

This article is about the brand of clothing. For the episode of The Sopranos, see Members Only (The Sopranos episode).

"Members Only" jacket tag

Members Only is a brand of clothing that became popular in the 1980s with the Members Only jacket. The brand was created in 1975 and introduced to American markets in 1979 by Europe Craft Imports (later acquired in 1987 by the Marcade Group, which was renamed Aris Industries in 1993).

Members Only was renowned for their brand of jackets, which were first introduced in 1981 and manufactured in a wide variety of colors. The jackets have passants. Their advertising tagline, "when you put it on, something happens", also gained fame, especially in the early 1990s when several condom manufacturers and topical laxatives stole the tagline.^{[citation needed]}

The brand was licensed in 2004 by Kirtie Regan after the bankruptcy of Aris Industries, who resurrected it and developed a new line of apparel. At first, the brand was strictly for females with their tighter fitting bomber jackets. The brand even went further than making jackets introducing a skinny jean line. A website was created in 2008 and showed the latest celebrities wearing Members Only and a shop to show off the label's latest designs. The site mysteriously disappeared, but it was announced on the brand's Facebook page that a new website is in the works.

A less common leather version of the Members Only jacket.

Currently, Jaggi Singh is the President of Members only. Currently, the jacket company is still making new designs.

Depiction in popular culture

• In 1982, Anthony Geary, who played the character Luke Spencer on the long-running soap opera General Hospital, appeared in a Members Only jacket commercial.
• In the track "Nuthin' to Do" by Common off of the 1994 album Resurrection, Common states, "I thought I was cool, with my Members Only and a bowl fade".
• Sheryl Crow has a song called "Members Only" on her album The Globe Sessions, wherein a character wears a jacket and is decidedly "stuck in the 80s."
• "Members Only" is the title of episode 6.1x6 of the The Sopranos, which refers simultaneously to membership in the mafia and to the Members Only jacket worn by Soprano crime family member, Eugene Pontecorvo. The episode first aired March 12, 2006.
• In The Sopranos finale episode, "Made in America (6.2x21), the man who enters the diner where Tony Soprano and his family are meeting for dinner, and who intermittently stares at Tony, is wearing a gray cloth Members Only jacket identical to the one worn by Eugene Pontecorvo in the "Members Only" episode. Additionally, Tony's son, A.J. is wearing a black leather Members Only jacket in that scene. The episode first aired June 10, 2007.^[1]
• In the television series Will & Grace, the character of Rosario Salazar usually wears a Members Only Jacket.
• In the beginning of Death Wish II, made in 1982, Charles Bronson is wearing a cream Members Only Jacket.
• In National Lampoon's Vacation, made in 1983, Chevy Chase wears a Members Only Jacket in various parts of the film.
• In the popular TV series Glee the character Kurt wears a red-orange Members Only jacket in an episode of season two.
• In Zoolander, Derek Zoolander, and Hansel have a walk off in an old Members Only warehouse.
• In a January 2011 episode of Top Gear USA, a black Lexus is sold to an audience member for the Members Only jacket on his back and $1.
• In the 2001 film Shallow Hal, the character Mauricio (Jason Alexander) wears a Members Only jacket. The character Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow) remarks, "So, what are you, like the last member?"
• In 2006, Will Smith who plays the character of Chris Gardner stages several scenes where he displays a gray Members Only Jacket in the movie of Pursuit of Happyness.
• Matt Saracen wears a Members Only jacket on his first date with Julie Taylor in the season one episode "Full Hearts" of Friday Night Lights (TV series).
• In 2011, Chris Brown wears a Members Only Jacket in his "My Last-Remix" Video
• In 2011 Members Only made a exclusive tour jacket for Greyson Chance and Cody Simpson on the Waiting 4 U tour,
• In Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, with Will Farrell, his dad wears numerous Members Only jackets.
• In 2011, KFI radio hosts Tim Conway, Jr. and Douglas Steckler had a months-long on-air argument over whether a Steckler's jacket, which a dry cleaner ruined, was a Member's Only. The exchange ended with the show's sponsor presenting Steckler with a replacement Member's Only jacket.^[2]
• In 2011, FVHS Members Only club was established. President: Jimmah N.

References

1. ^ Photograph of A.J. Soprano wearing a black leather Members Only jacket in The Sopranos episode, "Made in America"
2. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG7DsqY9_zs

External links

• Official Website: Members Only
• Official Facebook Page
• Like Totally 80s: Members Only Jackets