Baubles, bangles and candy colored tracksuits were Juicy Couture trademarks. But now, reports Marc Karimzadeh from Women's Wear Daily, there's a new boss and a new direction.

The velour tracksuit: It's been key to the Juicy Couture story since the label launched in 1996, and now it's serving as a jumping-off point for the new regime led by president and chief creative officer LeAnn Nealz, also its new creative force.

Nealz showed the spring lineup in New York in early November, marking her first full collection at Juicy since she joined the firm almost a year ago.

"We have been exploring what the track means outside of sweats, which is a big part of the brand," Nealz said. "But now it's taking sports influences and updating and modernizing them." Don't expect a radical makeover, though. Nealz sees this effort as a subtle elevation of Juicy, which she plans to further refine in future seasons.

Part of the plan, according to Nealz, was to do away with some of the logo-driven product.

"We needed to clean that up," she said. "It shouldn't say Juicy Couture on everything from handbags to sweat suits." That's not to say that Nealz is forsaking the brand's playful spirit.

"There was always a flirtiness to it that I feel was important, but it was time to move it forward," she added. "It had gotten too young. My focus is really to grow her up and elevate the brand in all aspects of design. Juicy needs to be more sophisticated and a bit sexier, but keep the kind of flirtiness that makes it fun."

Nealz has also begun updating the fabrics and finishes (better quality cottons and laces, Italian yarns, scalloped linings in some jackets), working closely with her design teams - clothes in Los Angeles and accessories in New York - to bring a stronger sense of consistency between all categories.

The spring collection, inspired by the legendary Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood, has a sporty feel, with tennis influences in short dresses and miniskirts. There are also knitted V-neck tops, a beige cardigan with a contrast yellow mohair trim, a white lace frock in an engineered poppy motif and a maxi dress made from mixed and matched silk scarves.

In a nod to the surfing culture of Los Angeles, the hometown of Skaist-Levy and Nash-Taylor, the accessories include a group of ultra light Neoprene bags.

While Nealz envisions a greater fashion concept for Juicy - denim is in the works, along with a bigger assortment of dresses and accessories - she said there would always be room for a tracksuit.

"I don't know that that's a bad thing, but I think it's important that we reinterpret and modernize it," she contended. "We all want to be comfortable. We all want to hang out. It's still relevant." After all, she added, "It is our heritage."

The New York Times Syndicate

(China Daily 12/04/2011 page14)