Juicy Couture: the rise, the fall, and the rise again

Juicy+Couture%3A+the+rise%2C+the+fall%2C+and+the+rise+again

   Juicy Couture is a cult classic in 2000s fashion. From Britney Spears to Kim Kardashian, everyone was repping Juicy Couture.

   From their classic tracksuits to bold jewelry statements, Juicy Couture has a strong following from long time fans.   The Juicy Couture legacy began with two women: Gela Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy. They met while working at a boutique. Nash became pregnant and thought there weren’t enough fashionable maternity clothes. 

   They started off selling basic v-neck t-shirts and labeled them as couture. Juicy Couture took off after the success and started branching out into accessories, jewelry, and jeans. Juicy started really making mainstream news when they came out with their iconic tracksuit.

   The rise of Juicy Couture started in the early 2000s late 1990s, when the classic tracksuits came out, they were iconic for celebrities to wear. Starting price at $155 for the top and bottom; It was accessible to the non celebrities as well. Icons such as Paris Pilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Jennifer Lopez wore Juicy tracksuits and loved them.

   2013 was a rough year for Juicy. They were sold to authentic brands for $195 million. Because of this happening, Juicy closed all of their stores. Later they opened five to ten stores and made a deal with Kohls to sell their products, which made fans believe it wasn´t considered designer anymore.

  As the owners stated, “Sales fell 11% year-over-year in 2009.” Juicy was not going anywhere at that time so the owners left the brand. They stated, “They lost the ability to help their brand evolve. Sales continued to drop as Juicy was not able to be rebranded.” (Source)

   In 2016 Juicy Couture did a collaboration with the brand Vetements, and that re-sparked interest and gave Juicy some street cred. In 2017, Kylie Jenner wore a tracksuit that had a nice price tag from that collection. 2017 was a very successful year for Juicy. The brand debuted its new collection with a New York Fashion Week party with OG Juicy Couture lover and living brand embodiment Paris Hilton. Pieces from the collection were available on Juicy’s website, as well as Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, with prices ranging from $30 to $400. This was better than Kohls’ department store prices.

   In 2018, Juicy Couture released its first ever runway collection to show pieces from its main contemporary line, Juicy Couture Black Label. I personally own a few products from the Juicy Couture Black Label line. The quality is definitely there. It feels like a very high end line and goes for a nice price.

   My current day’s take is that Juicy is still very popular even though they had to deal with a lot. Juicy is more accessible now than ever. You can go to places such as JC Penny, Ross, and Burlington to buy Juicy products. They are more affordable for your everyday person which I believe only can benefit the brand. They can make more money because there is more out there to buy. With the current Y2K trends, the brand is doing better than it ever has. As an avid Juicy collector, I’m very happy with the current status of Juicy.