The cult fashion collective Vetements has introduced $800 hoodies and $280 DHL-branded T-shirts to the Vogue-reading elite. But can it convince its chichi clientele to embrace Juicy Couture velour?
Well, it’ll try. The French label has announced that it’s partnering up with the trashy tracksuit purveyor — which had its heyday in the mid-aughts — for its next spring show, debuting Sunday.
The collection will feature several collaborations with big brands like Reebok, Canada Goose and Comme des Garçons, in addition to Juicy, and comes on the heels of Juicy’s announcement that — two years after retiring its signature sweats — it will be bringing back the much-maligned mall rat and sorority-sister staple to Bloomingdale’s this June.
For those who don’t remember: Juicy was the O.G. athleisure label, building an empire out of bubble-gum-pink and baby-blue velour sweatpants and zip-up hoodies that assiduously clung the bodies of spray-tanned stars like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez. These ladies lived in these $200 leisure suits, which often had “Juicy” in bedazzled letters splashed across the rear, and they would wear them with with flip-flops or Ugg boots on their paparazzi-captured Starbucks or supermarket runs. But, by 2010 or so, this one-time status symbol had lost much of its lustre. (Paris was passé, Britney had a meltdown, the economic climate shunned flashy, bedazzled displays of wealth.) And Juicy dropped its tracksuits from its label entirely in 2014.
But it seems that the Juicy suit is making a comeback — and it’s getting a high-fashion gloss. For his show next week, Vetements designer Demna Gvasalia (who also heads Parisian fashion house Balenciaga) is creating evening gowns out of the tracksuit’s plush velour material: “I love the comfort and the trashiness of it,” he told the Cut.
Plus, the resurrection of Juicy velour is inevitable for a different reason. When the brand debuted in the mid-90s, the idea of “luxe” sweatpants — or of wearing sweats somewhere that wasn’t a gym — was scandalous. Now, it’s de rigeur, with hip designers such as Stella McCartney and Yohji Yamamoto (and, um, Yeezy) peddling posh workout gear that one can wear to the office or the club. Even Vogue — somewhat holding its nose — published a piece online trying to convince readers that its editors are totally into the Juicy tracksuit and have found ways to style the garment so it isn’t so naff.
And if anyone can make the velour sweatsuit chic, it’s Vetements, which has managed to create a frenzy for all sorts of formerly frumpy items: Its DHL T-shirt features the logo of the German express-mailing company. Fashion has a weakness for the past, taking previous eras’ ugliest castoffs — like Birkenstocks, Tevas and tattoo-like chokers — and turning them once again into pricey It items. For better or worse, it’s now Juicy’s time to shine.