The Only Brand to Get Ripped In

You may not know the name, but you certainly know the design. Ric Drasin is the man behind the iconic Gold’s Gym illustration, a motif that helped to define what many call ‘The Golden Era of Bodybuilding’. Think Schwarzenegger, Muscle Beach, ripped bodies adorned with various colorful tee’s and tanks. Now, he’s back and collaborating with Y, IWO (pronounced yee-woah) – A.K.A. Yeah, I Work Out. Y, IWO is a brand that, in their own perfectly said words, “takes you back to a time when workouts were serious, results were legendary, and livin’ was easy”. In sum, the clothes are lo-fi, hi-quality, and non-technical apparel, a range that is welcome today in our modern athleisure world’. Fresh on the heels of their collaboration Drasin answered a few questions exclusively for L’OFFICIEL USA.

How did the collaboration between you and the Y, IWO team come about? I’ve known Jason Thome for many years and he contacted me regarding bringing back some of my bodybuilding designs from the 1970’s and 1980’s. I’ve always wanted to do this and I felt that this was a great opportunity to do so as I have many designs.

What do you want people to take away from the collaboration? What do you want people to feel when they wear the clothes? I want them to feel unique, nostalgic and that they have a design that will be a collector’s item someday.

For this assortment, you went back into the archives and chose three drawings. Can you tell me why, out of all the drawings you’ve done, you settled on these three for the collaboration? There were a whole lot more but Jason felt that this was a good place to start. There are many more that I would like to add as time goes on as well as introducing clothing styles like jackets and pants.

You were a pioneer of what can be described as ‘the golden era of bodybuilding’. Now with Instagram in full effect, do you feel as if we’re having a resurgence? Totally, as through my show, Ric's Corner 34million viewers, I get stopped by people all over who watch and emails from those who want me to bring that era back. The best way is through the show and clothing.

You designed the iconic Gold’s Gym logo for your buddy Joe Gold. Did you ever expect it to become what it is synonymous with today? Wow, I did it on a napkin in Zucky's Deli and had no idea the power it would have. It was amazing to me.

When it comes to clothes to work out in, I’d love to know your thoughts on the word ‘athleisure’ – not at all saying that Y, IWO is that. To me workout clothes are my leisure wear and they can look somewhat dressy at times so I feel comfortable with that term.