Destitute? Living on a bench? Not true, says former Heatherette designer Richie Rich, who is mounting a fashion comeback, despite rumors the designer had fallen on hard times.
As Fashion Week kicked off last week, friends worried Rich was floundering after word circulated in fashion circles that he was homeless. But the colorful Rich, who went from party boy to designer, says he’d left town to “recharge” and that he’s relaunching Heatherette with former partner Traver Rains, plus a new line with Dallas-based lingerie designer Chantelle Warr.
Launched in 1999, Heatherette’s club-kid clothing drew a celebrity clientele, including Gwen Stefani and Paris Hilton, and Rich and Rains’ legendary runway shows attracted Anna Nicole Smith, Ellen DeGeneres, Kimora Lee Simmons and Kim Kardashian to model for them.
But the line’s been stagnant since 2007 after Rains and Rich battled with financial backers.
Rains subsequently moved to LA to start a T-shirt line, T. Rains, and a children’s clothing line, Hollywood Dolls. Meanwhile, Rich worked on a brand with Pamela Anderson that didn’t make quite the same impact as Heatherette.
During Fashion Week, several sources told us Rich was “couch surfing” after being kicked out of an apartment near Washington Square Park and he was “living without heat or hot water.”
Contacted on Friday, Rich denied the rumors and said he simply moved out of an apartment after his landlord decided to make the building a co-op. “Then I went to see my family for a month. I wanted to recharge my batteries a little bit,” he told us.
Rich added he’s now living with Warr in the New York Palace for a month, until they find a Chelsea studio and living space. The duo held a fashion show Thursday for their lines Chantilly Rich and Rich Warr at the Hudson Bond, where guests included “Mob Wives” star Renee Graziano and Basketball Wife Meeka Claxton.
Rains told us he’s also game for relaunching Heatherette, but contractual restrictions over the brand may stall Rich’s plans for a spring launch.