The Return Of Juicy

Juicy Couture, a Y2K 2000’s dream. Worn by all the greats like Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Mariah Carey and Britney Spears. Juicy has risen from the ashes so many times now it could be considered a classic trend at this point. Admittedly though, it is definitely not for everyone.

1997 saw the birth of Juicy Couture. After the recession in the early 90’s people were looking for luxury items with a label and a price tag to spend their wages on. Juicy was a brand that made casualwear with a luxury feel to it. The founders aim originally, was to create the ‘perfect’ V-neck top. This range then added on luxury lounge wear, and that is when their infamous Juicy velour and towelling tracksuits came from.

We all know the marketing technique of brands gifting pieces to celebrities and influencers for them to promote on their social media or wear out and about so they can get papped in them. This is a common technique today, but did you know Juicy Couture was the first brand to do this? They didn’t have a big enough budget for massive marketing productions, so they packaged up their pieces in beautiful boxes with the Juicy Couture logo engraved on the front and sent them around Hollywood to celebrities of the hour.

Within weeks they saw their tracksuits on front covers and throughout the pages of massive celebrity gossip magazines such as US Weekly and People. Juicy hit off and by 2008 they made sales of $605 million.

But along came another recession and the luxury brand couldn’t keep up with what their consumer was wanting. Politics changes how people buy and when the world is suffering subsequently people don’t want to be buying flashy pieces. They need long lasting, ever trendy pieces that they can wear in season, out of season.

Juicy’s original founders left the company in 2010 after seeing a steep decrease in sales and the brand was then sold in 2013 to ABC for $195 million. Juicy was no longer luxury with a big price tag, it was being sold in stores such as Kohl’s and TJ Maxx for a significantly lower price.

However, 10-ish years later we are now seeing the brand rise to fame again. With 2000’s fashion becoming ever more popular, a Juicy tracksuit is the pinnacle of this time period. With a new creative director, the brand hit a NYFW party with the OG Juicy lover Paris Hilton. In 2018 the brand first ever runway collection hit it the runway. This was a complete chance for a do-over for Juicy.

Vetements did a collaboration with the brand which saw Kylie Jenner pictured wearing their tracksuit. We then saw Y2K lovers all over Instagram investing in vintage Juicy pieces in every colour. I find there is a lot of Juicy on eBay for so so cheap, I’ve got 2 of the vintage tracksuits and didn’t pay over £40 for each of them. Accessories are flogged for so cheap on there too.

In 2019 we saw an exclusive collection between Juicy Couture and Urban Outfitters. Where their iconic velour tracksuits with sparkles all over the bum have been recreated. This puts Juicy in the eye of every teenager and young girl in the Western world.

The pieces from this collaboration are significantly cheaper that the stuff on Juicy’s website, they are marketed to Urban Outfitters audience and once they’re gone you can find them for double the price on Depop.

Personally I love both. The vintage pieces and the new pieces from Urban Outfitters. It is just a bit sad that most rich white girls who’s excuse for dressing ‘well’ is Daddy’s bank card will now see the brand and want it.

I’m sure Paris feels the same way I do… :(