Interview with Harie L. Robinson by Dennis Lehto

Since the days of old, Hiphop and fashion have always gone hand in hand. From Kangols to name plate belts; from fat laces to Adidas with no laces; from Dapper Dan to Wu-Tang Clan (Wu-Wear); I even recall sporting a pair of maroon Cross Colours to school every other day back in '92 (denim on the front with corduroy on the back ... still got 'em in a box somewhere but don't tell anyone). Fashion and its relationship with Hiphop has come a long way over the years. It continues to reinvent itself and grow on the regular.

Riejunio Apparel is a brand originally out of Atlanta and founded by a designer by the name of Harie L. Robinson Jr. He has been involved with it for 10+ years and continues to build steam. Quoted from the mission statement on his website: "His goal was to create premium contemporary apparel for consumers across all cultural boundaries. Harie's expertise stems from seven years experience in the fashion and retail industry, which allows Riejunio apparel to provide garments that can be incorporated into any facet of life." ... With the success his company is seeing these days (emphasis on quality, traveling the world, custom pieces for industry heads, etc) I'd like to say "mission accomplished".

The following is an interview I conducted with Harie Robinson, founder of Riejunio. We discuss his brand, his process, music & fashion and how it all ties together.

First things first, let the people know who you are what sort of statement you try to make as a designer with Riejunio ...

We pay strong attention to details and quality control of the garments we put on our consumers. Riejunio’s statement can be summed up in three words: Resourceful, Resilient and Relentless. We are relentless in the pursuit of impacting our consumers with cutting edge designs while staying true to the basics, originality and simplification that makes our consumers’ buying experience a "FLAWLESS VICTORY."

How long have you been involved in this field and what motivates you to make it all happen?

My start in fashion goes back to 1999 when I started working at Macy's in Athens, GA, as a sales associate. I worked with Macy's for 8 years and worked in every position at the store level excluding GM and AGM. My work ethic and tenure at Macy's eventually gave me the opportunity to work at the Macy's South headquarters in Atlanta where I accepted the position of Regional Price Accuracy Auditor. My motivation for launching Riejunio stems from the rat race and red tape of the promotional structure of the corporate world. Most of my promotions with Macy's were, if you will, "lateral movement." After seeing what designer clothing actually sold for at wholesale prices, I thought to myself, "WOW!" I then started researching manufacturing costs, print production costs and developing my business plan. My mom always kept me in the latest fashions growing up, so if you add my love for fashion with the promotional structure of the corporate world ("lateral movement"), you find my motivation.

What is your mode of designing clothing, do you sit down and draw it out or do you just get to the creating stage?

My mode for design is a combination of both. My drawing skills are average compared to someone that illustrates and draws constantly for a living. I normally produce a rough sketch to visualize the concept that comes to my mind. The rough sketch is used for Riejunio designs about 10% of the time. 90% is conceptual design. I've learned that being able to write and verbalize my concepts to artists and other designers that I work with is the best route for me. My mind works constantly on new designs and concepts, and if I spent the majority of my time sketching, then the business side of Riejunio would suffer. I keep my mind on 50% conceptual design and 50% the business of fashion.

You're based out of Atlanta am I correct? I understand you were promoting your Riejunio brand in the UK recently. In terms of fashion, and the whole Hiphop scene over there as well for that matter, what was that like and how does it compare to being Stateside?

Correct Atlanta. Wow! I would need 20 word documents and 20 pages docs to explain that! One of my best clients is Drumma Boy (Grammy nominated music producer from Memphis). Drumma Boy asked me to fly to Holland for his Euro tour in conjunction with the SAE Institute and The New Skool Rules Foundation based out of Rotterdam South Holland (The Netherlands). I was very excited to go on this Euro tour not only to promote Riejunio but to assist Drumma Boy in any capacity necessary to further the business relationship between Drum Squad and Riejunio.

The Hip Hop scene over there is very FRESH. It’s like a big field or pasture with the best dirt, creating a foundation for hip-hop growth. I was amazed at the amount of talented, diversified young talent in Europe. There was talent from India, Israel, Germany, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Belgium, South Africa, South America, and the list goes on. These young students are ahead of the game when compared to stateside young students. Most of the students that we met during our visit could speak English, along with Dutch, French, German, Hindi, etc. Hip hop is big in Europe but it's mostlyunderground. Dance/Pop/House/Techno is more mainstream in Europe. Make no mistake that hip hop has a strong presence, but it's going to take more tours like the Drumma Boy tour to guide hip hop to a higher level in Europe, which I think is the best approach to taking hip hop to a stronger level in Europe. You do it by teaching the students in Europe the basic foundation of hip hop from a music production perspective, engineering perspective and vocal perspective, which Drumma Boy is the first to do. As a producer, he can see value in these untapped regions that will be one that has longevity in the music business. Stateside is so saturated with 1.8 billion individuals that want to RAP and another million that make beats, not to mention the red tape, economy, and elite social circles you have to go through to get a record placed. The last time I checked, the Euro was stronger than the dollar, so stateside civilians better wake up!

Speaking of Hiphop, how do you feel your brand ties into the culture? 

"Fashion is music and music is Fashion" to sum it up in a nutshell. Riejunio's mantra is the "The Renaissance of Art & Fashion;" meaning, "The Multicultural Movement of Art & Fashion." Riejunio will always tie into many different cultures and the way we tie into hip hop is by having traditional European cuts and tailored fitted apparel with an urban edge. Urban is hip hop, so we will always have an urban edge with Riejunio Apparel. The alliance with Drumma Boy and Drum Squad really brings Riejunio into the hip hop scene. Doing custom gear for one of the industry’s best young producers is a blessing. Now, I'm able to mentally and visually get a deeper understanding of hip hop and reveal my experiences through design that can relate to the masses—hip hop masses that is. The rest will come.

One thing that always reigns true with all types of fashion is a lot of trends come and go, it seems difficult for any designer to find that "timeless" type of look. What are your thoughts on fashion trends and what steps do you take to try and stay current?

Trends do come and go. The key and focus for Riejunio to stay timeless is "basic" and "simple" designs. Our jeans are basic Euro cuts with solid embellishments. Our tees are basic Euro cuts with solid printing and embellishments. Most trends come and go because they try to reinvent the fashion wheel, and that's a “NO NO.” Think about where hip-hop stems from: R&B. Most of the hot tracks that are mainstream and grab your emotions when you listen to them havesamples or snippets from an old-school R&B track. So, hip-hop didn't reinvent the wheel, it just gave its version of the wheel. Riejunio will take the same approach to fashion. We will stay basic and simple, only tweaking when necessary. Our custom division keeps us ahead of the game as well because we now have several other ways to stay current:

(1) Making a client a personal custom piece based off how they feel and

(2) Going "Green" by bringing someone's old faithful shirt or jeans back to life by taking it out of the archives and putting it back in the “in-box.” All of these thought processes allow us to stay current.

Speaking of trends, I first came up in the era of Cross Colours and Karl Kani baggy denim suits with the big logos and such. Last I checked, the latter (Kani) moved on to business attire and the former (CC) fell off the map completely. Do you think we will ever see those styles come back or were they more of a trend better left forgotten?

Stateside individuals would think that Karl Kani fell off the map, but that is so not true. Karl Kani still has a presence internationally. FUBU is doing well internationally. I'm a victim myself of not doing research and tracking trends with everything that's going on in the world. The trends of Cross Colors and Karl Kani will resurface stateside. Trends always recycle themselves, sometimes in a different format or different cuts.

From the brands previously mentioned to modern day we see folks, artists like Kanye West for example, sporting a much different style. What do you think about this tight looking cut that's now the trend of the day?

If you're talking about the male young teens wearing skinny pants, that’s not my style, but from a business perspective, it's a good trend to take advantage of since it's here for a minute. In terms of tight looking cuts in general, I think that’s the way I was raised. Wear your pants on your waist and wear your clothes to fit properly. I guess you could say I've been a tailor fitted man since birth. The tight look (tailor fit) is really a European look. Your jeans or trousers break properly at the bottom over your shoe. I basically think that the European cut never went anywhere. Some designers like Karl Kani just put their tweak on the fashion wheel and created a craze that is still relevant today in the hoods of America and Suburban America.

You mentioned an artist named Drumma Boy. He has been putting in some production work to help promote Riejunio. Can you elaborate on the connection?

"Fashion is Music Music is Fashion." Drumma Boy and I have a similar thought process—his musically and mine fashionably. His love for clothing and my love for music is where the foundation begins. We met at the 2008 Bet Hip Hop Awards gifting suite. He saw one of our Riejunio Military custom joints "Born to Die" and the rest is history. After exchanging contacts, the journey has been nothing but positive progression. Our brief discussion at the gifting suiteinvolved "cross marketing and collaboration" of our brands and it's been exactly that. We designed his sport coat for the finale of "Welcome to Dreamland" that aired on Peachtree TV locally, BET and re-aired on Centric TV. The most important factor is that Drumma Boy really likes the design capabilities and work ethic of Riejunio, and in return, I use his work ethicin studio or promo tours as motivation to push the envelope. Two and a half years later we are prepping and putting together a mega conglomerate that will consist of music and fashion. Stay tuned!!

Looking at your website I see you have some BET connects, I see Dru Hill on there, I spotted Keith Sweat's name on there for custom apparel. Do you get involved with a lot of custom pieces for folks and what is the process that goes in projects like that?

We are very involved—from the initial fabric selections to fitting sessions to quality control to the finished garment. I got the plug with Dru Hill through Keith Sweat's manager Ron Poag. He told me they were working on a reality show called Keith Sweat's Platinum House, and I told him that I would provide wardrobe for the show. Sisqo, Tao and Nokio all got Riejunio Merchandise for the reality show. Jazz had to step into the Riejunio Custom division to get fitted, and we really enjoyed putting his looks together because we wanted him to shine, plus he put faith in us to pull it off. We comped the first couple of orders and then the comps turned into paid customization work. A special thanks to Ron Poag for the plug and great appreciation to Jazz, Sisqo, Nokio, Tao and Kevin Peck for having faith in Riejunio Apparel.

You got any advice for up and coming designers?

(1) Start with one basic product like T-shirts. That's how Marc Ecko started.
(2) Handle your business. A clothing line is more than creative and design.
(3) Trademark your logo.
(4) Business Plans are must (we do full and complete business plans @ R3 Enterprises (www.r3ent.com ))
(5) Create budget and stick to it.
(6) Utilize interns and upcoming designers from institutes lik AIU etc.
(7) Marketing and promotions is 80-90% and will determine the success of your line.
(8) Quality Control
(9) Be aware of sourcing agents. Try to get sourcing agents from a reputable source.

Any advice after the top 9 will cost you! Hit me @ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Finally, where can the people find your brand? You got links or anything else you want to plug or promote?

You can find our brand @
www.riejunio.com
www.r3ent.com
www.twitter.com/riejunio
http://digg.com/riejunio
www.twitter.com/riejunio
www.linkedin.com (Harie L. Robinson Jr.)
www.facebook.com (Harie L. Robinson Jr.)
www.facebook.com (Riejunio Premium Apparel Group)

Stay tuned for Riejunio presents The Official Fashion Mixtape "FUKING FUSION" Produced by Drumma Boy for Drum Squad and featuring Canada's own "Crown A Thornz" (Eklipz. J Wyze and Kolor Brown) and Drum Squad artist "B-Hav and Allie Baby. Up and Coming Producer J Creasy did 3 tracks on the mixtape. We are very excited about this project.

Riejunio is also in talks with Rocko and Eightball & MJG on branding/clothing projects. Stay Tuned!!