It’s not just a shirt and no those aren’t, just jeans. As a matter of fact, actually to be quite frank, you can’t even say that they’re just clothes…more like a movement! The former Macy’s sales rep turned fashion entrepreneur, Harie L. Robinson Jr. is poised and set to take fashion to a new level with his multicultural designs. As the mastermind behind Riejunio Apparel who has coined his movement as the Renaissance of Art & Fashion, Harie says, “this is not just hip-hop, this is not just street wear, this is not just for the premium denim crowd, contemporary crowd…everybody wants to wear it.” From his BarackAware and hand-painted G-Ivey collections to his custom designs worn by Ryan Stewart (2 Live Stews, ESPN 2), Dru Hill, and of course Drumma Boy, the proof is in the stitching that Riejunio is raising the bar of diversity in fashion.

Peep the interview below to find out how Harie got started, the concept behind Reijunio, what he’s got going on right now, and what he has to say to those who aspire to make their mark in fashion designing.

J. Michelle: Tell us how you got started in the fashion design business.

Harie: I worked with Macys South…through every position at the store level both on the incoming product side and the sales side. Then I jumped over into corporate as a Regional Price Accuracy Auditor. I could see all the product pricing from Versace to Sean John to Phat Farm and I could see what they were selling it to Macys for and I was like…man ain’t no way, let me go ahead!

J. Michelle: So at some point you made a transition completely from Macys into RIEJUNIO, how much money did it take to start Riejunio?

Harie: I started out with the SBDC at a seminar about business lines of credit. The next day I got with the SBDC, got my counselor, business plan, checked my credit score, did some credit repair. Then, boom…got my first line of credit….that was about $25,000. That 25 wasn’t covering it, so I went through another financial institution and did like another $100,000. That along with some other silent investors I got about $250,000 invested in Riejunio right now.
J. Michelle: You’re currently working on a new project which is your custom designs. Tell us a little about the custom designs and how that works.

Harie: I worked with a gentleman here in Atlanta named Tony Dennis. He’s a tailor. This cat is off the chain! He’s been working for himself doing tailored clothing for a lot of different people, plays, videos, you know stuff like that. Me and Tony started chopping it up and I was doing my first Apparel Mart downtown and I wanted to start introducing some new sample pieces so I did my first custom sport coat. We collaborated on the concept…he chopped up one of my sport’s coats, took it to the Apparel Mart and everybody was like “man I like that jacket”, “I like that jacket”. I was like we do custom orders, this is not a production piece…this is something custom. We can do it from scratch or chop up one of your jackets, re-do the cut on it and everything.

I worked with Eddy Fontane. He wore it in his show at Variety Playhouse and we did a photo shoot of him in the first white jacket and from there it just started trickling off. I ended up doing some custom stuff for different people in Atlanta…people I might just meet out in the club. From there, the custom stuff led me to locking in Dru Hill. From there, Tahira Wright reached out to me for the 2008 BET Awards. In 08’ is when I met Drumma [Boy], and out of everybody in the music industry that I’ve dealt with, he’s the first person that came genuine and was like well how much that cost? We did a short sleeve Drumma Boy custom shirt and a sports coat that he rocked in the series ‘Welcome to Dreamland’ that aired on Peachtree TV. I got a call from Jazz [Dru Hill] again for some more custom gear. So the custom stuff has been going good. The custom is a way of branding Riejunio without having to spend thousands and thousands of dollars. I just do a piece for myself, I love clothes so I rock it…boom, it’s automatic business.

Janda: You’ve given us a lot of examples of your custom designs for males, do you do any custom designs for females?

Harie: Yes. I did some custom dresses for a boxing match at the Rialto. I did custom dresses for all the ring girls. So I do dresses…we have Riejunio custom dresses. We do the female fitted military short-sleeved shirts. We do the thermals. Anything you see on a man, we do it in female.

Janda: What inspires or fosters your creativity?

Harie: The music industry for sure inspires me because these are the first people that are seen wearing something new. My goal is if I see something that’s hot and new in the market, I’m going totally opposite and I’m going to push the envelope. So if I see a new design come out and I see folks jumping on it, I’m still going to pull the strong colors, but I’m looking at concept and just go way outside the box to make people kind of think ok he’s already 3000, he’s moving way ahead of the cusp, in terms of going from where they were to where they are now. That’s what I’m doing in fashion.

Janda: What do you think makes you different from any other designer?

Harie: With the fashion industry you got 2 sides, very cut and dry. What Riejunio strives to do is pull something from Roberto Cavalli, Versace…a little urban edge…mix them both together. That’s like bringing two cultures together…multicultural movement. That’s what separates Rejunio. We’re not going to just make 8 lines and gear them toward each culture. The goal is to bring cultures together.

Janda: Do you have any financial advice for other new-comers to the industry?

Harie: It’s a lot, let’s see. I do not recommend agents…you want to go to the source. Just like Frank Lucas went to Bangkok in American Gangster. Quality control is key. Do not buy a whole lot of inventory because you’re caught up in your vision and you think that your eye is everybody else’s eyes. Sample it out. Test it. Oh yes, this is a stickler…Stylists…and the Managers…just be on point stylists and managers. I’ve dealt with so many stylists and managers that will ruin your profession. Also your business plan has got to be in order….legal stuff…trademark, copyright.

Janda: If there is
one thing you could change about the fashion industry, what would it be?

Harie: I would say collaborations between other fashion brands or fashion companies. Like instead of it being a Mercedes-Benz fashion week where all of the designers come, it would be more like Riejunio does a fashion show with somebody they wouldn’t expect. I’ll do a fashion show with Christian Audigier vs. Ed Hardy because that’s where I foresee Riejunio going to.…like if there was a fashion show where it was kind of like a concert…main act, Riejunio!

Janda: Other than Riejunio obviously, who’s your favorite designer?

Harie: Sneaker-wise I’m a Puma fanatic. Other denim designers I like are People’s Liberation, Diesel, Seven. Designers that I really like are Roberto Cavalli on the high end and on the urban end Sean John and Baby Phat. It’s a bunch of them really…I love clothes, but those are my top ones.

For more information on Riejunio Apparel visit www.riejunio.com!

Photos by Hannibal Matthews
www.hannibalmatthews.com

One Response