Bloomingdale’s Is Trying to Make Juicy Couture Tracksuits a Thing Again

By Nia Porter Jun 1, 2016, 11:42am EDT

Racked has affiliate partnerships, which do not influence editorial content, though we may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. We also occasionally accept products for research and reviewing purposes. See our ethics policy here.

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

The beloved Juicy Couture velour tracksuit — worn in its heyday by everyone from Paris Hilton to Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez to (pre-Kanye) Kim Kardashian — will once again be a closet staple this summer. That is, if Bloomingdale's has any say in the matter.

The retailer is banking on a comeback, teaming up with Juicy Couture Black Label on an exclusive capsule collection of the classic tracksuits set to go on sale this July. Vice chairman Frank Doroff framed the infamous velour get-up as the originator of today's athleisure trend in a statement to WWD. "Current fashion trends are about elevating casual sportswear...and velour is velvet's casual antidote," operating vice president and fashion director of ready-to-wear Brooke Jaffe elaborated.

Juicy Couture may have opened its doors in 1996, but the tracksuit and its unmistakable little J zippers didn't become the pop culture icon it is today until the early 2000s, when everyone who was anyone had one, in just about every color. The set was like a comfortable uniform that you could wear anywhere — shopping at Kitson in Beverly Hills, hitting the red carpet for a charity event, to class, to the grocery store, at the airport.

This outfit appeared on almost every celebrity who graced the cover of InTouch Magazine or made it onto Perez Hilton's gossip site circa 2001–2002, and was sported by high school Queen bee Regina George — and her mom — in Mean Girls a few years later in 2004. You typically wore the track pants as low on the hips as possible so that just the right amount of pelvic bone showed, then you'd throw on a pair of flip flops (or Ugg boots if it was cold) and oversized gradient sunglasses to truly nail the celebrity off-duty look.

The Bloomingdale's collection will feature four separates for both women and girls in the brand's classic colors, including pitch black, golden camel, dragonfruit, and whisper pink. You can choose from a slim-fitted hoodie or a stand-collar jacket for $108 and slim fit or flare-legged pants for $88. If you plan on inducting your daughter or younger sibling into the club, prices for the girls collection range from $52 to $58 for a pair of pants and from $62 to $68 for jackets, depending on size.

The capsule could signal a comeback for the Juicy Couture brand, which closed all of its boutiques in the U.S. back in 2014 four years after founders Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor (now of Pam & Gela) sold the brand. As soon as the duo left, the brand and its infamous tracksuit suddenly became "uncool." That would probably explain why you can actually snag a Juicy tracksuit in the sale section at Kohl's right now for as little as $27.

See below for throwback ideas on how to wear yours, courtesy of these early aughts fashion icons: