Juicy Couture: The Rise, The Fall &; The Comeback
I can still remember feeling amazed as my tiny, eight-year-old self pressed against the golden revolving doors in Fifth Avenue and entered the world of Juicy Couture. Going to a Juicy Couture store introduced me to a whole new perspective of fashion and the culture of the glitz and glam. I am sure I am not the only one who was obsessed with Juicy’s elastic bracelets, over-the-top handbags, and iconic tracksuits. But that was in the early 2000s, the brand eventually plummeted, and all that was left were juicy glimpses of nostalgia for millennials to sip on as we grew up. Fortunately, now, with the comeback of Y2K fashion trends, the brand is making a huge comeback.
In the early 2000s, Juicy Couture was popularized by celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. Juicy’s luxury sportswear introduced the public to a perfect combination of comfortable and stylish, making it acceptable to wear sweatpants in public. By 2008, Juicy Couture was making $605 million in sales and expanded its clothing-only brand to accessories and fragrances, such as the iconic scent “Viva La Juicy,” which probably permeated the halls of your middle school. Nonetheless, with the recession in 2008, which put a strain on many people’s wallets (buying $150 tracksuits was an unthinkable thing) and promoted a more minimalist vogue, Juicy Couture sales fell 11% year-over-year in 2009. As the world of fashion evacuated glitter and bold colors which painted the early 2000s, Juicy Couture was one of the brands that sunk into nostalgia (and Bankruptcy). I have to admit that I felt like Fifth Avenue looked naked without the iconic Juicy Couture store, which closed in 2014. That same year the brand was sold to Kohls for $195 million, one third of its peak sales, and all physical stores were closed.
Fortunately, the rise in Y2K fashion Juicy is rising from the dead, but with a 2021 spin to it. Juicy is slowly crippling back into our lives digitally: the brand launched its website in November 2020. In an interview with the Guardian in 2019, the brand’s head of design, Amy Gibson, stated that while creating Juicy’s new line of clothing, she was thinking about “bringing its athleisure DNA and reimagining it for today’s market.” Gibson’s renovations to the iconic Juicy Couture pieces are made evident with asymmetrical pieces, glimpses of street style, and biker shorts with the brand’s sparkly logo on them. The rise and fall of Juicy Couture is a story to tell, but, thankfully, there is a happy ending!