RETAIL
Juicy Couture Going to South Korea
Juicy Couture, the venerable contemporary brand born in Los Angeles in 1995, is starting the new year out with a bang.
The brand, which was so hot that everyone was wearing the Juicy Couture name on the derriere of their Juicy Couture track suits, has been on a long journey since it was founded by friends Gela Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy in facilities located in the San Fernando Valley.
The latest leg of that journey is taking the brand to South Korea in a deal worked out by Juicy Couture's current owner, Authentic Brands Group, and Shinsegae International, a South Korean lifestyle company specializing in retail development and brand building.
The plan is for Shinsegae to launch 10 shop-in-shop locations in major departments stores in South Korea by 2020. An additional 50 shops-in-shops will be in place by 2024.
The South Korean company will also launch a collection of Juicy Couture ready to wear, activewear, intimates, handbags, footwear and accessories to be sold exclusively in South Korea. Ji Hyung Choi, Shinsegae's head of design, will support the creative direction of the brand, which will have a preppy sport vibe influenced by streetwear trends.
"This is exactly the kind of synergistic partnership that will build the Juicy brand and make it available to young Korean women," said Jarrod Weber, president of the brand at ABG, the New York brand-management company that bought the label in 2013 from Liz Claiborne for $195 million.
