Juicy is back! The staple of early noughties fashion, that logo across the backs (and bums) of millions has made its official comeback (getting who else but Paris Hilton in to model for them). After being absolutely everywhere during the 2000s, Juicy seemed to just suddenly disappear from the high street. But how did it appear so quickly and then vanish in the same fashion?
Juicy was set up by two friends Gela Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy who met whilst working in a small boutique together in 1988. After Gela fell pregnant she realised she couldn’t find stylish maternity clothes so made her own from her husbands jeans. This grew quickly into Travis Jeans which she set up with Skaist-Levy.
In 1994 they decided to branch out by creating a line of v-necks with focus on four core elements: comfort, fabric, colour, and fit. An ethos they would take into their creation of Juicy Couture tracksuits some years later. They drew inspiration from growing up through the 70s and decided they’d use towelling fabric for their now-iconic tracksuits.
The tracksuit came to life in 2001 and the founders quickly developed a marketing technique which has not become ubiquitous within luxury brands. Juicy sent its tracksuits to celebrities in the hope they would wear them. It worked. Pretty soon Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears – the absolute icons of the early noughties – were all pictured wearing Juicy tracksuits. They were that successful that they sold the company in 2003 for $203m.
Juicy wasn’t stopping there though, and by 2008 they were making $605m a year. But just as their meteoric rise came about through famous noughties faces, their fall was to be a victim of something else very famous in the noughties: the recession. Soon after this peak, the recession hit everyone’s pockets, and it affected fashion in a big way.
Juicy was flashy and stood for luxury in big capital letters. Fashion changed towards a more minimalist style, in line with the minimalist times people were living in. Juicy’s whole style was the absolute opposite so they had no real place to go. While others were expanding their collection, Juicy just stopped adding to theirs. Over the top style was no longer in so neither was Juicy.
They had no option but to sell for less than it was bought for and this forced the new buyers into no longer aiming at the luxury market. Suddenly Juicy had none of their own shops and was being sold at discount stores. Luckily nostalgia is a powerful thing so Juicy is back! They debuted at NY Fashion Week, a new generation of influencers and reality TV stars were wearing it back in 2019. Now it seems Juicy is firmly, and rightly, back in the game.