Born on the dirty, neon-lit streets of Melrose Avenue in 1983, Retail Slut was never just a store—it was a revolution in leather and lace. Founded by Helen O’Neill, it became a home for the outcasts, the punks, the goths, the fetish freaks, the ravers, the drag queens, and every underground misfit who refused to fit the mold.
 

Retail Slut wasn’t about selling clothes. It was about selling identity. It was a cultural hub, a gathering ground, a war cry of expression for anyone brave enough to stand outside the mainstream.
 

Over the years, its influence bled far beyond fashion. Retail Slut helped soundtrack the scene too—partnering with Cleopatra Records on Retail Slut: Burning from the Outside, a compilation that featured underground icons like Switchblade Symphony, Christian Death, Alien Sex Fiend, Birmingham 6, and March Violets. It was dark, loud, unapologetic, and alive—just like the store itself.
 

The doors closed in 2005, but the legacy never died. In 2021, LA’s Lethal Amounts Gallery paid tribute with an exhibition honoring Retail Slut’s notorious aesthetics and uncompromising history. And now—decades after it first kicked in the doors of conformity—Retail Slut is back.
 

Today, RetailSlut Records rises as the next chapter: an online resurrection that smashes together the worlds of fashion and music, louder and bolder than ever. Partnering with Take Back the Power Records, we’re gearing up for a full-scale comeback with pop-up events leading to a flagship storefront in Spring 2026.
 

This isn’t nostalgia. This is rebellion reborn.
Retail Slut never died—
it just went underground, waiting for the right moment to return.
 

That moment is now!