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Juicy Couture

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Fashion
Founded	Pacoima, Los Angeles, California (1997)
Founder(s)	Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor
Headquarters	Arleta, Los Angeles, California, United States
Key people	- LeAnn Nealz, President and Chief Creative Officer - Mark Weisz, CFO - Erin Stern, SVP and Chief Merchandising Officer [1]
Products	Clothing Accessories Perfumes
Revenue	$19.50M [1]
Employees	160 [1]
Parent	Liz Claiborne Inc.
Website	www.juicycouture.com

Juicy Couture is a contemporary casual wear and dressy apparels seller based in Arleta, Los Angeles, California founded by Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor in 1997.^[2] It was later purchased by the Liz Claiborne fashion company, and Juicy Couture has turned into a global seller with their signature velour tracksuits and other fashions that span everything from apparel, handbags, shoes, intimates, swimwear, fragrance, accessories, sunglasses, yoga and babywear.^[3]

The line is sold in upscale department stores (Bloomingdale's, Gus Mayer, Lord & Taylor, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue), as well as Juicy Couture flagship stores and boutiques. Currently, there are over 100 Juicy Couture and Juicy Couture Outlet Stores in North America. Juicy Couture is marketed as a high-end clothing line at an affordable price, and is aimed at females aged 10–26. Juicy Couture also has a men's clothing line, including accessories. As of Spring 2009 (in the southern hemisphere), Juicy Couture has discontinued its Men's line "Dirty English".^[4]

  History

Started by two fashion-obsessed friends in 1997, Juicy Couture quickly achieved global recognition and garnered millions of fans, many with famous faces. In 2003, Fifth & Pacific Companies, Inc. (Formerly Liz Claiborne Inc.) acquired the company. In 2010, Juicy Couture tapped LeAnn Nealz as Chief Creative Officer and President to guid the brand into its next phase of growth, while preserving the house's playful and unique DNA. Best known for ascending the tracksuit to its status as a casual luxury icon, Juicy continues to evolve, bringing the same confident, whimsical and feminine attitude to all its designs.^[5]

  Background

In 1995, Gela Nash (before marrying Duran Duran's John Taylor) and her friend Pamela Skaist-Levy started a line of maternity wear by successfully transforming plain vintage jeans into Travis Jeans. By 1997, having learned the basics of the fashion industry, they were ready to start a company of their own – but they didn’t take the standard route. This resulted in a slow start-up for the company which would eventually become Juicy Couture.

  Brand development

From 1996, after establishing their company and needing to get public attention for the brand, Nash and Levy started to send their completed designs to celebrities. In 2001, the famous Juicy tracksuit was introduced and custom designed for Madonna;^[6] and Madonna turned the velour tracksuit into a trend. The public appearance of clothes by celebrities made the brand famous almost instantly. Madonna was the first big break through celebrity endorsement for the company. Later, in 2004, the velour tracksuit once again became very popular among celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton.^[7] Juicy Couture then became a brand known around the world for the image of being the outfit of the “new money”.^[8] Juicy Couture, which was a very limited brand being available at very few locations until the late 2000s, established exclusive boutiques and flagship stores.

An informed "guesstimate" put Juicy sales at about $200 million in one year. Vogue noted the company's growing — even exploding — popularity, saying, "The time may have come when Seventh Avenue’s lofty vantage point suddenly seems less relevant than the ground-level perspective of the designer as consumer."^[9]

Although the company hired consultant Erin Fetherston to design a new collection of dresses to launch the holiday season, retailers alleged that the designs were stale, on top of the fit issues noted in October 2010. Many major retailers have either dropped Juicy Couture clothing or cut back on orders for the fall season. WWD breaks down the losses: "A spot check of stores revealed that Saks Fifth Avenue dropped the Juicy Couture line at the New York flagship for fall; Bloomingdale’s flagship cut way back on its Juicy department on the contemporary floor; Nordstrom passed on the apparel line for fall; Bergdorf Goodman no longer carries the line, and Neiman Marcus has dropped the line in several stores, such as White Plains, N.Y. and Beverly Hills."^[10]

On November 1, 2010, LeAnn Nealz was named President and Chief Creative Officer. In this position, she would be responsible for all creative elements of the business including product design, marketing and store design and will report to Edgar Huber, Chief Executive Officer of Juicy Couture.^[11] Former Vogue accessories director Michelle Sanders was also hired to handle new licenses for jewelry, handbags and swimwear.^[12]

  Logo

All of the Juicy Couture items are manufactured with the company signature logo: two highland terriers holding a shield bearing three hearts and Love G&P (for Gela and Pamela). A crown lies on top, while a Juicy Couture banner flutters above the slogan, "Made in the Glamorous USA".

  Products

  Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Perfume

The founders of Juicy Couture (Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor) have slowly introduced new merchandise lineups. In 1999, they introduced jeans to their product line called Juicy Jeans. In 2001, they introduced track suits. These tracksuits come in a variety of colours made of velour, terrycloth, fleece, or cashmere, and consist of low riding drawstring pants and a zip-up hoodie. In 2002, Juicy Couture added collections for men and children. In 2004, bathing suits and accessories for women, including shoes and jewelry, were also added to the Juicy line. Today, Juicy’s offerings range from perfume, socks, and handbags to toiletries, diaper bags, and dog accessories.

In November 2004, Juicy Couture became the inspiration for the Juicy Couture Barbie® dolls. Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor as Juicy Couture Barbie® dolls wear the signature tracksuit pieces and lots of other very “juicy” accessories.^[13]

In 2006, Taylor and Levy introduced a new line called "Couture Couture" consisting of 20 pieces and a higher selling price. This line reflects the new lifestyles of the two fashion designers, only carried in high-end stores. The first collection of loungewear and sleepwear by Choose Sleep by Juicy Couture Intimate Apparel was introduced in 2008.

Today, Juicy Couture's women's clothing remains generally the same, although the company has expanded to have a broad range of cosmetics, jewelry, handbags, and children's clothing. In 2008, the company added a plus-size line called "Extra Juicy". It was originally exclusive to Nordstrom stores, but is now widely available. The company also produced a men's line, but halted production in June 2009 when the menswear designer left the company.^[14] The company's only mens offering is now Dirty English by Juicy Couture fragrances.

  A Juicy Couture shop display of trousers and perfume.

Liz Claiborne is reported to have sold $258 million worth of Juicy Couture merchandise in the first six months of 2008 despite the almost worldwide recession.^[15]

In addition to the fashion line, Juicy's freshman fragrance, Juicy Couture Eau de Parfum and Parfum, created by perfumer Harry Fremont, launched in August 2007.

Juicy Couture is a frequent target of counterfeiters and is quite often copied by low-quality replicas.^[16]

One of Juicy Couture’s marketing developments is the Juicy Passport. This new travel passport includes a discount incentive to encourage people to shop at Juicy boutiques instead of department stores, offering a new experience to its shoppers.^[6]

  References

  External links

	Los Angeles portal
	Companies portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Juicy Couture

• Juicy Couture
• Juicy Couture designer profile at Fashion Model Directory