In 1988, two aspiring designers, Gela Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy, were working retail in Los Angeles. Inspired by Nash-Taylor’s pregnancy and a shortage of stylish maternity clothes, the women went into business together, founding a maternity denim brand called Travis Jeans for the Baby in You.
After growing the label, they called it quits to start a new project called Juicy Couture. The mission: create the best-fitting, best-feeling luxury V-neck t-shirt. After releasing their signature t-shirt, Juicy created terry cloth pants and zip-up hoodies, continuing their theme of ultra-casual luxury.
The terry cloth sets evolved into the designers’ biggest hit, a fashion staple that defined the 00s and proved to be ahead of its time (at least from a marketing standpoint). By 2001, Juicy was selling velour versions of its comfy Terry cloth tracksuits.
Skaist-Levy and Nash-Taylor pioneered influencer marketing by taking advantage of the era’s tabloid culture and getting their tracksuits on the right celebrities.
Within a year of launch, they gifted a pink Juicy tracksuit to Jennifer Lopez, who wore it in a music video. Shortly thereafter, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Lindsay Lohan adopted the style.
The Juicy velour tracksuit became one of the first examples of modern “athlesiure,” allowing its wearer to flex a “lazy” lifestyle.
The suits’ $155 price tag made them aspirational yet still affordable to everyday customers with disposable incomes.
But fashion experts believe these exact selling points are what led to the brand’s eventual decline. When the recession hit, brands like Ed Hardy and Juicy felt out-of-touch, so celebrities opted for less flashy looks.
After a rapid expansion, bringing the brand to $605 million in sales for 2008, growth came to a halt.
In 2013, the brand sold for a fraction of its previous value to Authentic Brands and all retail stores were closed.
Around 2015, Y2K nostalgia helped revived the brand, just on a smaller scale. In 2017, Kylie Jenner posed in a tracksuit from a collaboration between Juicy and the brand Vetements. For a moment in time, Juicy received the credit it deserved from the influencer culture it helped build a decade before.
