How Juicy Couture Managed To Make A Massive Comeback

How Juicy Couture Managed To Make A Massive Comeback
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While your velour Juicy Couture tracksuits have been gathering dust somewhere in a box at your parents’ house, the beloved brand, Juicy Couture, of the late 1990s and early 2000s – popularized by a slew of celebrities (including Madonna) – has been making a steady comeback.

At least, in the past couple of years it has.

Just last month, the infamous socialite that helped to make the brand famous, Paris Hilton, just revealed that she owns more than 100 Juicy Couture tracksuits, and that the brand is still her go-to when there isn’t a red carpet involved.

Since Hilton’s heyday in The Simple Life years, Juicy Couture had disappeared from the spotlight until relatively recently.

American businesswomen Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor started the Juicy brand back in 1997 with just a few hundred dollars allocated to the cause. It didn’t take long before their vision to reimagine the loungewear game caught on – especially in Hollywood.

By the early 2000s, the Juicy Couture brand had estimated sales of about $200-million.

While Skaist-Levy and Nash-Taylor sold the business to Liz Claiborne in the height of its success in 2003, they remained heavily involved in business operations for a decade. Throughout this period, the brand expanded to offer denim, jewellery, accessories, and a fragrance with Elizabeth Arden.

juicy couture comeback
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Despite its mass success, by 2013 Juicy Couture tracksuits and clothing had become a thing of the past, and the company had seen a slump in sales.

In a $195-million deal in November 2013, the brand was sold to prominent licensing company Authentic Brands Group. By 2014, all of Juicy Couture’s retail locations closed its doors, while loyal fans were reassured it was for renovations.

Not long after however, a deal with department store Kohl’s saw Juicy Couture sold exclusively in 1,146 locations throughout the United States for those that were still interested, and the brand continued to create apparel and accessories. Many young shoppers, however, kept the Juicy Couture brand in the same category as Uggs: something best left in old photo albums (the physical kind; remember those?)

It was in 2016 when Juicy really emerged from the dead in all of its velour-filled glory when French label Vetements sent a model down the runway in a bodysuit by the brand.

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Ever since, Juicy has sort of stuck around, especially after making appearances on Instagram (something that wasn’t around in the brand’s early days; just US Weekly) when worn by Kylie Jenner and sister Kim Kardashian, one of the OG Juicy-loving celebs. Further creeping its way into millennial consciousness, in 2017, Juicy collaborated with Urban Outfitters to produce a ’00s nostalgia collection.

The icing on the cake in the comeback department came in February 2018, when Juicy Couture made its first-ever appearance at New York Fashion Week.

Facilitating the brands big return was the appointment of celeb stylist Jamie Mizrahi and what Mizrahi didn’t try to do was reinvent the candy coloured wheel with the brand.

Newer collections feature updated versions of its iconic tracksuits. Updates include things like bold, sexy one-pieces with cutouts. Adding a modern, refreshed feel were things like feminine floral dresses, crochet and rainbow bright apparel.

In September 2018, Juicy hired 16-year-old French model Thylane Blondeau as the face of the company. While the move suggested the brand was going to stick to its younger demographic roots, this clearly hasn’t swayed the 30-something celeb set from rocking Juicy velour like it was 2002.

Juicy’s revamp in recent years has also seen the introduction of makeup line in all of the fun Juicy colours, as well as sparkly water bottles, and fruit diffusers.

Most recently, Juicy launched a fun collaboration with popular (and very Instagrammed) Canadian brand Brunette The Label that made its debut this fall at Vancouver Fashion Week and is now available to shop.

Vancouver-based Brunette has become known for its cozy crewneck sweaters that feature female-focused slogans. The limited edition collaboration with Juicy is available in Canada and the U.S, and features the most popular Brunette styles with Juicy’s recognizable gothic font, in addition to a velour tracksuit and zip-up set.

It’s safe to say that Juicy isn’t going anywhere again any time soon.

With the Canadian winter slowly creeping its way in, a comfy new Juicy Couture tracksuit sounds pretty amazing right about now. Maybe I’ll even dig out an old one.

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