Herb Goldsmith, Cofounder of Members Only, Dies at 92

Herbert Goldsmith, the cofounder of Members Only, died Feb. 22 after a battle with lymphoma. He was 92. Services will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Gutterman’s, 8000 Jericho Turnpike, Woodbury, N.Y. Goldsmith was born in the Bronx and grew up in Brooklyn where he attended Lincoln High School. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he attended Long Island University. An “inspired innovator and entrepreneur,” according to his family, Goldsmith worked for his father’s outerwear company, Chief Apparel, in the late Forties. Following his father’s death, Goldsmith partnered with Ed Wachtel to buy Europe Craft Imports Inc., in 1961. But what truly put them on the map was when they created the Members Only brand, which soon became famous for its ribbed bottom bomber jackets, in 1975. The brand, which was believed to have been the country’s largest manufacturer of men’s outerwear in the Eighties, was among the first to use celebrities in its advertising including Anthony Geary and The Gatlin Brothers. By 1984, the brand, whose tag line was “When you put it on, something happens,” had sales of around $200 million. Eventually, the brand pivoted from celebrity to cause-related advertising including anti-drug campaigns. It was sold to the

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