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Juicy Couture is a contemporary line of both casual and dressy apparel based in Arleta, Los Angeles, California founded by Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor in 1997. It was later purchased by the Liz Claiborne fashion company, and Juicy Couture has become a global phenomenon with their signature velour tracksuits and other fashions that span everything from apparel, handbags, shoes, intimates, swimwear, fragrance, accessories, sunglasses, yoga and babywear.

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. 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".

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 ; 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. Juicy Couture then became a brand known around the world for the image of being the outfit of the “new money.” 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 Magazine 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."

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 of 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."

On November 1, 2010, LeAnn Nealz was named as 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. Former Vogue accessories director Michelle Sanders was also hired to handle new licenses for jewelry, handbags and swimwear.

Products
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, the item that the company is most famous for. These tracksuits come in a variety of colours made of velour, Jerry cloth, fleece, or cashmere, and consist of low riding draw string 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.

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, "Born in the Glamorous USA."

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

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, jewellery, 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. The company's only mens offering is now Dirty English by Juicy Couture fragrances.

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.

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 to counterfeiters and is quite often copied by low-quality replicas.

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.

Juicy Employees
Employees of Juicy Couture are taught several things once hired: “Juicy social skills” which help them to connect with the customer, to talk about the brand, and also to introduce the Juicy products via the employee handbook called My J Book: a Guide to the Juicy Way; “Juicy Life” which is used to be able to interact with customers. There are “Juicy chat-ins” when you arrive for work, they use “Juicy Math” to describe goals for UPT (Units per Transaction), conversion, ADT (Average Dollars per Transaction, and SPH (Sales per hour), and “Juicy Talk” when interacting with customers. The "My J Book" splits up the customers into four distinct groups: Get Me Stuff; Because…; Friends Rock; and Move It. Associates are then trained to offer assistance that fits each of these customer segments. Employees are encouraged to use this scripted methodology to interact with each type of the customer, thereby increasing sales. Sales associates are not required to wear Juicy to work, but must look like the styles they carry and current colors. However, since Juicy Couture has a distinct look, it is not easily mimicked by many other retailers. Managers have suggested taking an article of clothing and transforming it to make it look like pieces carried in the store. For example, an employee might replace the buttons on a shirt or cardigan with gold ones to make it look like from the store. Associates are also filled in on the latest trends of the brand. They are told what is "in" and what is "out" so that associates can look the part and fit what is considered “Juicy” at the moment. In this way, the employees’ styling becomes an integral part of the Juicy Couture lifestyle retailing strategy targeted towards the customers. The customer is literally surrounded by everything Juicy when stepping into a Juicy store.

Slogans and Symbols


Juicy Couture is known for its large number of slogans and symbols. The company has never used one single slogan at any particular time, except for slogans that are attached to a certain product, such as "Viva La Juicy" for the Viva La Juicy perfume.

Their slogans include "For Nice Girls Who Like Stuff", "Smells Like Couture", "Be Juicy", "Cupid Couture", "Viva la Juicy", "Juicy is Forever", "Her Royal Juicyness", "Wake Up And Smell the Couture", "Go Couture Yourself", "Cupcake Couture", "Bundle Up, Wear Juicy", "The Joy Only Bling Can Bring", "Peace, Love, and Juicy", "Let Them Eat Couture", "Have a Juicy Day", "Some Girls Have All the Juicy", "Dude, Where's My Couture?", "Choose Juicy", "Prep It Up Juicy Couture", "Couture is Here", "Kiss My Couture", "I aloof appetite Couture", and "Crimes of Couture".

Their signature Juicy crest, as well as the phrase "Love, G&P" (formerly "Love P&G") are stitched on the central tag of anniversary account of Juicy. The adjustment of the crest came into effect in early 2006 after an accusation by the Procter & Gamble corporation.

The company has received significant criticism for its slogans from several organizations and parents. Juicy Couture is accepted for having slogans (such as Juicy, Viva La Juicy, etc.) on the back of their tracksuit pants, which has been accounted as over-sexualized by many.