The Best Idea Yet - 🍑 Juicy Couture Tracksuit: How Cozy-Core Went Viral | 30

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

In a high-end boutique between Hollywood and Beverly Hills, Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor met as fashion-obsessed shopgirls with dreams of entrepreneurship. But they had no obvious path to get there… until Gela became pregnant – with nothing to wear. What came next was a history-making business venture started with only $200 and a pile of smelly used denim. From a successful maternity jeans line, to soft fitted T-shirts embraced by the characters on “Friends,” Juicy Couture rose as a sassy, saucy clothing line at an ‘affordable splurge’ price point. But it was their signature product, the Juicy Tracksuit, that would break the Internet, flood the tabloids, and transform casual luxury as we know it. Learn how J.Lo’s savvy costume choices helped kickstart a multi-million dollar brand, how the most important muscle to tone is the ‘Second-Time Founder Muscle,' and why the Juicy Tracksuit is the best idea yet.Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterFollow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting www.wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to the best idea yet early and ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Jack, talk to me. We're talking Y2K uniform. What do you got? What are you rolling the school in, man? Okay. So early high school? Yeah, I was taking cues from my older brother and he was rocking the Tommy Hilfiger logo t-shirt. Huge Tommy Hilfiger billboard on his chest. I was gonna say that's an ad that's on a t-shirt over there. And then he had this huge puffy Abercrombie and Fitch vest on top of that and beneath it all on the bottoms, cargo pants. Down in New York, a little closer to Fashion Avenue, it was J. Crew on top with three different polo shirts underneath, because the more collars, the merrier.

And of course, Jack, naturally, boxer's exposed. Oh, I had at least six inches of visible boxer top. If you didn't, not even worth showing up to school. But yetis, today, we won't be talking about what we were wearing. This is a story about a fashion juggernaut for women by women. This product paved the way for the modern athleisure market, which is now worth more than $300 billion. This product became the on-the-go uniform for models and singers, actresses, and heiresses.

Not to mention Amy Poehler's cool mom in Mean Girls. If you know, you know. Hey Paris, why don't you tell the people what we're talking about? Let's talk about the Juicy Couture Track Suit. Let's talk about it. The Juicy Couture Track Suit. Technically, this is not couture,

and it was never worn to track practice. But these candy colored monochrome sweats officially owned the early 2000s, with or without the word Juicy bedazzled across the butt. Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, they all became members of the Juicy Brigade. They made these tracksuits go viral from the tabloids to the balance sheet. You know that this fashion wrecking ball actually has its roots in maternity wear.

This is the story of two LA friends with zero MBAs and just $200 in startup capital, but they were gifted with an eagle eye for detail and a killer entrepreneurial instinct. Oh, and that $200 of startup capital, it eventually led to a payout of $200 million bucks. Together, these complimentary co-founders rewrote the celebrity endorsement playbook. We'll share how they built Juicy Couture into a multi-million dollar brand worthy of the most valuable real estate in fashion. Your tush. And we'll tell you about our favorite muscle in the body, the second time founder muscle. Toss in the John Rule soundtrack and slide on your hoop earrings because Juicy Couture's track suit is the

best idea yet. From Wondering and T-Boy, I'm Nick Martell. And I'm Jack Kraviche Kramer. And this is the best idea yet. The untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. And the bold risk takers who made them go viral. I got that feeling again. Something familiar but new. We got it coming to you.

I got that feeling again. They changed the game in one move. Here's how they broke all the rules. This episode of The Best Idea Yet is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Amazon. Shopping on Amazon is one of the easiest ways to streamline your shopping so you can get time back to do the things you actually want to do, like listening to this podcast. Save the everyday with deals from Amazon. If you want to know whether you're in a premium shopping establishment, you don't look at

the prices, you look at the bathroom. And for guests at Diane Merrick's Fashion Boutique on Los Angeles' famous Melrose Avenue, sweet smelling soaps and Egyptian cotton hand towels are the standard. The powder room there, it's immaculate. This upscale clothing store is nestled on the border of Hollywood and Beverly Hills, among the kind of trendy boutiques and restaurants where you need a reservation weeks in advance just for lunch. And back in 1988, Diane Merrick's customers include movie stars, pop singers, and it girls of the 1980s. If you

look around, you just might catch a young Jamie Lee Curtis perusing the size two miniskirts. But behind the scenes, someone's got to rehang those miniskirts, replenish the soaps, and fold those hand towels with military precision. These are the unsung heroes of retail, the sales associates. And we're going to drop in on two of them, Gila Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skye-Stalevy. Today Pam's rocking riding boots, cutoffs, and a floppy hat that she happened to design herself. And Gila's

wearing cowboy boots and a short ruffly dress. Most people at the shop, they actually think that they're the same person. They never work the same shift. In fact, they've never even met. Until today, when they're both put on towel folding duty for that pristine bathroom. Pam and Gila start talking, and it turns out they have a lot in common. They were both the rebel middle child in their stuffy conservative families. Gila became an actor,

appearing in small parts on Broadway, film, and TV, and Pam designed costumes for feature films, but then bailed to enroll in fashion school. Pam successfully created and sold a line of hats as an independent study. Can you believe that? For once, a college course that pays you. Not too shabby. Gila on the other hand, she has no experience selling anything. But she is getting fed up with acting and she wants to break into the fashion biz. But she hasn't decided on her killer product yet. That is until she gets pregnant.

And then she realizes, wow, I got nothing to wear. Just a few months after that day with the towels, Gila and her husband find out they're expecting. So Gila does what you'd expect from any fashion conscious Angelina. She jumps in the car, hits the 405, and goes shopping for cute maternity clothes. Montage, baby. But this is the late 1980s. Yeah, cute maternity clothes are harder to find

than Bigfoot. Gilo looks everywhere, but it seems like everything in the maternity aisle is from 1950, back when women were encouraged to hide their pregnancies like they were state secrets. Every shirt is a tent, shapeless, and three inches longer on the front than in the back. And forget about jeans.

In every maternity section, there's nothing but stretchy leggings and stirrup pants for the second and third trimester. The message seems to be, shh, come on. It's only nine months. Just keep a low profile and don't bust any seams. From a business perspective, here's what they're thinking. Most pregnant people will only buy maternity wear a couple times in their lives, and they'll

only wear those clothes for a few months. So the maternity category gets literally and figuratively tossed to the bottom of the fashion pile. It's dismissed as a niche market. But Gila is not going to spend the next six months hiding. No she isn't. So instead she gets crafty. She grabs a pair of her husband's vintage jeans and cuts the waistband off, replacing it with a stretchy lycra band. So when she steps out on a sunny SoCal afternoon in these

new jeans, she's boggling the minds of the friends around her. Wow, you're eight months pregnant? You look fantastic! You look like you're about to go clubbing! During the vulnerable months when her body is changing more than ever, these genes help Gila feel more like herself than ever, and that's powerful. Once your son Travis is born,

Gila goes back to her classic Levi's. But here's the thing, she just can't stop thinking about those maternity genes that she hacked together This is the entrepreneurial idea that Kiel has been waiting for but she also knows the last thing she wants to do is start a business Alone so Jack. What about Pam? She has that business experience. Oh and also their pals. She does Pam's number Pam she's on board. Oh, yeah. Hip maternity jeans for LA moms to be. That's a huge gap in the market.

And you know what? Pam and Gila are gonna fill that gap. They each pony up some startup capital. $100 each. Literally the cheapest angel round we've ever covered on this show. But these two start with $200. That's their seed money.

So they head to a gritty industrial section of LA to a place known in the textile business as a rag house. A rag house is a used clothing wholesaler selling secondhand duds by the pound. Pam and Gila step into this musty rag house and they're greeted by a mountain of used denim and smelly piles. And without so much as a bottle of Purell,

they just dive in. They're up to their elbows in other people's Levi's. They're hunting for the full range of sizes, extra small to extra large. And they're just tossing aside any pair that's too stained, too ripped, or too crusted up to use. Nick, does this rag house not wash the clothes? They always tell entrepreneurs to get their hands dirty.

Pam and Gila, well, they take that literally. Finally, with armfuls of Selex, they head out to their next destination, which is the laundromat. Oh, they have to wash them themselves. Yeah, yeah, you're going to do it so low. If you're keeping tabs here, their startup investment is now $200 at about 16 quarters for the washing machine. Once the jeans are spiffy clean, Pam and Gila spread them around the courtyard of Gila's apartment building and let them dry out in the sun. And as those clothes dry, the new co-founders hack off the waistbands with heavy-duty scissors until their hands are completely sore.

They hire a seamstress to attach stretchy lycra panels at the tops of the jeans. Once they're all done, Pam and Gila take off their sunglasses and stare at their new creation. Now this is maternity wear. And they even create iron-on labels with their brand written in Sharpie marker. It says Travis jeans for the baby in you. Now Pam and Gila can't just make maternity jeans. They need a place to sell the maternity jeans. What they need is a retailer. And their first stop, it's actually not a maternity store at all. It's Diane Marrick, that schmancy boutique that we mentioned at the top of the show,

because they know that's where all those Hollywood celebrities shop. It's also where they first met while immaculately folding towels as retail associates. As we say, advertising's what you pay for, publicity's what you pray for. One famous person wearing these jeans would be worth more than the cost of a billboard on Wilshire Boulevard. So Pam and Gila say a little prayer as they present Travis jeans to the boutique's buyer, and they set the price at $89 per pair. That's an affordable splurge for middle-class buyers, yet still worthy of Julia Roberts's

closet. That buyer is examining the denim, pulling the stretchiness, looking at the panel, and then says, Yeah, I have some clients that will love these. We're talking famous clients. Specifically, Melanie Griffith, who happens to be pregnant at the time with Dakota Johnson. She strolls around Rodeo Drive wearing these jeans. Boom! The Travis jeans lands a glamour magazine right up. Glamour magazine is huge. The media coverage,

impossible to buy, by the way, brings Pam and Gila credibility. And more importantly, it gives them confidence to approach other boutiques. Then they reinvest every dollar right back into the business. That means more dirty jeans dives, more quarters fed into that laundromat's triple loaders. Their approach is slow, but smart. Many startups suffer from over-skeletal. You oversell, but are under-supplied. So you end up promising orders you just can't deliver on. That leads to delays, botched expectations, and quality control issues.

Any one of those issues can kill a brand. Now, fortunately for us, Pam and Gila don't fall for over-skeletal issues. Instead, they walk before they run. And when they finally have their infrastructure in place, they go fishing for even bigger clients at a maternity-focused trade show. As Pam and Gila do their best Glengarry Glen Ross in front of dozens of retailers,

they catch the attention of a Pee in the Pod, a large maternity chain founded by a woman who was also frustrated with pregnancy options. They feel made for each other. A Pee in the Pod doesn't just give Pam and Gila an offer. founded by a woman who was also frustrated with pregnancy options. They feel made for each other. A P in the Pod doesn't just give Pam and Gila an offer. They give them one mama of a deal, an exclusive clothing line beyond jeans.

We're talking denim shirts, blazers, riding pants, even cat suits. At Jack, these women just went from sorting wet denim in Gila's patio to a huge national deal in just six months. Ever since they first met at that Hollywood boutique, Pam and Gila have been on a collision course with this moment. This is their big break until an ugly orange Gangnam print accidentally kickstarted the whole juicy era. Let's chat about our presenting sponsor, Amazon. Yeti's a little inside scoop on how Jack and I record the show.

We call it Big Tuesdays. Because here's the thing, we have a daily show as well, the best one yet. So on Tuesdays, we spend three hours in the studio to record the best idea yet. After we already spent two hours recording our daily show beforehand. Big Tuesdays! They remind us of the double sessions we used to do as athletes. You gotta hydrate. You also gotta be efficient.

So we don't have time to run an errand for milk or hit up the pharmacy for cough drops. That's why shopping for everyday essentials on Amazon is part of our daily and weekly routine. As we realize we need something, pasta, paper towels, light bulbs, boom, we add it directly into the cart. Especially on Big Tuesdays. Jack, last week I ordered a microphone on Amazon. I didn't even tell you it was a write off.

I figured what the heck. Now for the non podcasters listening, you probably got your own version of Big Tuesdays. A back to back afternoon of meetings. It's the worst, but it happens. With Amazon, you don't need to drive anywhere or hit up multiple stores. Save the everyday with deals from Amazon. Here we are in an office park in Pacoima in California's San Fernando Valley. The office is quiet.

A painted fingernail flicks off the fluorescent lights one by one. Pam Skysleevey and Gila Nash-Taylor are closing the door on Travis Jeans forever. What? Wait a minute. Before the break, we were hearing about how Travis had this huge deal that you signed. What happened during the commercial break neck? Well, here's what happened. For five years, Pam and Gila happily created maternity clothes for A Pee in the Pod.

The two companies got along like two pe- you know where I'm going with this. But then it came time for them to deliver designs for their 1994 collection. And that collection featured one particular pattern. Gingham. Gingham. That's the quaint square checked pattern on Dorothy's dress from The Wizard of Oz. Now Pam and Gila designed their collection using patriotic gingham in red, white, and blue. But then a pea in the pod decides to remix their plans based on market

research. When the Travis Spring collection is finally released in stores, the colors have been changed to yellow, orange, and lime green? To Pam and Gila, this gives country fair corn dogs. It's not giving class. They think to themselves, what pregnant person would wear this? But to their utter shock, those new colors sell really well. It looks like the market research was right. Pam and Gila were wrong.

And they take that as a sign that it's time to get out of the maternity business. So Travis jeans is successful for five years and then one color scheme gets switched and Pam and Gila decide they're done. Yeah, you know Jack, it's not just about the gingham. It's really like what the gingham represented. Pam and Gila realized that the market shifted away from their personal instincts. Once that happens, it's kind of like a baseball player getting the yips. It's just hard to recapture the magic. It's not always a founder's instinct to paraphrase Taylor and say, it's me. Hi, maybe I'm the one who's lost touch with my core customer. But you know what, that is exactly what Pam and Gila do. They meet their remaining obligations, but then they close up the shop faster than a spirit Halloween on November 1st. But they're not done with the fashion business. They're just done with the maternity fashion business. Ding ding. On to round two. There is no greater hack in entrepreneurship than being a second time founder. The first go around is like your mini

MBA. You make a lot of mistakes, but you learn from every one of them. So Pam and Gila, they're ready to take on their next idea. And they start with the fun part, the new brand name. Here's what they're whiteboarding Jack. They're like, you know what? We want something that evokes freshness, bubbly-ness, like a fun in the sun California vibe. You know, like the kind of feeling that you could bite into and it would explode everywhere like a fresh orange.

There's really just one right answer when you put it that way, Nick. Juicy. Little do they know yetis, but that word will soon be spelled out in glitter on the butts of millions of people all around the world. So Pam and Gila, now rebranded as Juicy, are ready to take their second crack at running a business. But the name, that was the easy part. Now, they actually need a product.

It's a clean slate. They could choose anything. They could make evening wear, swimsuits, pantsuits. But instead, Pam and Gila decide to jump on an emerging trend. They focus on the t-shirt. The t-shirt, an emerging trend? Pretty sure they had t-shirts before the 90s

Yeah, they did Jack, but let me go full Miranda Priestly for you on this You know it's 1994 and the baby tea is actually coming into vogue But even with baby teas on the rise Pam and Gila think that there's a lot of room for improvement Everything that they see in the shops is either too square or too man-shaped or it's teeny tiny made for size zero models, no t-shirt feels like it's made just for them. It feels, honestly, like another gap in the market for them to take advantage of. So they set out to design the perfect t-shirt. But Pam and Gila think strategically about this.

They think like engineers. They come up with a framework of four key points of quality. Fit, fabric, comfort, and color. They consider every invisible pain point you might not think about until you put the t-shirt on. Like, does the armhole fit right? Does it line up with my shoulder right? Will this fabric lose its shape after a wash or two?

Each one is a problem to be solved. And then they come out with a bunch of styles, including the 103. It's got a V-neck, sleeves that hug the shoulders, and soft cotton fabric as bright as three coats of nail polish. Pam and Gila cannot wait to get their shirts into stores. This 103 is a great place to start.

But they're second time founders now with deep experience. So instead of approaching buyers directly, one store at a time, they hire sales reps, one in LA, one in New York. Let's talk about this New York sales rep for a second. Her name is Lisa Schaller. Think of her as a talent agent, only instead of repping actors or directors,

she's repping Pam and Gila's t-shirts. She's tough as nails with a thick New York accent. I love this t-shirt. So Schaller focuses just on selling the 103 shirt at first in limited colors and nice small batches. These small orders, they aren't super profitable, but here's the idea. They're low risk for the retailers to take on this unknown brand. Soon these shirts have infiltrated Bloomingdale's in New York and a beloved boutique called Fred Siegel in LA where actresses, models, and it girls shop. And as luck would have it, a costume designer from Friends. Yeah, that Friends. Pretty soon Juicy's shirts

are starting to pop up on the TV show Friends. You and I are both Seinfeld guys, but this is a huge deal getting on Friends. Oh, it's huge, Jerry. Huge. So by the end of 1995, Juicy is doing a million dollars in sales. A year later, they're doing five times that, thanks in part to the Friends buffet bump. Juicy T's like the Travis jeans before them are priced at an affordable splurge level. We're talking t-shirts at like $21-$30 a piece, which would be about $50 today. It's a treat-yourself product that targets both Jennifer Aniston, the actor, and Jenny the barista.

Half attainable, half inspirational. Jack, how about we sprinkle on some mid-90s macroeconomic context as well? This era is peak confidence in the US, both politically and economically. America's got some mojo. The Berlin Wall just fell down. The internet is hitting its puberty. US GDP is growing at an average of 4% per year. Consumers are so confident they're ready for a little splurging. And this gives Pam and Gila an idea. They add a word to their brand name, a sort of in-joke to capture the humor of a luxury t-shirt. Juicy becomes Juicy Couture.

Yeah, it's meant to be ironic because t-shirt couture really. But the name doubles as marketing. Everything Juicy touches feels a bit elevated, a bit cheeky, and a bit accessible all at the same time. Great products have tension, and Juicy is the ultimate expression of that tension in fashion. Jack, there is nothing less couture than a t-shirt, and yet Juicy stuck the word couture boom right smack on the brand name. This will lay the groundwork for their next revolutionary product, the one that really made it famous.

What do you think about a tracksuit? The doorbell rings. The receptionist of Lisa Schaller's Manhattan showroom buzzes up the delivery person. The place is usually immaculate, but today, this place is a mess. Hangers, boxes, tissue paper, it's all just scattered everywhere. It's the year 2000, Y2K baby. And Schaller is prepping for one of the biggest events in her calendar, a showcase for the so-called resort market. In mere days, buyers from retailers across the world

will be in her showroom, looking for the newest designs for resort season, pieces that will appeal to customers kicking it in Cabba during the winter holidays. And that is why Shaliv is so excited to see this box hand delivered to her showroom. An exciting new sample collection from Juicy Couture. Juices come a long way in six years.

They've expanded to knit tops, skirts, accessories, even jeans, but now Pam and Gila have a new product they've been working on for months, the Juicy Couture Track Suit. As usual, Pam and Gila have poured so much effort into the details. The fabric is lush terry cloth. This thing feels like a warm hug.

The fabric is also dyed twice in bright jewel tones, so the insides look just as vibrant as the outside. These hoodies have a zipper, front pockets, and a lined hood that falls in a soft triangle onto the wearer's back. You can tell these two used to immaculately fold towels back in the day. It's even got something rare in fashion, custom-made hardware. That's right, a zipper tag that is shaped like a J for Juicy, obviously, which they

call a J-Pult. Okay, but as Lisa keeps digging through the Juicy product boxes, her stomach drops. Something is missing. Oh boy. Under the neatly folded hoodies, she finds an array of bottoms, some mini skirts, and these tiny booty shorts with a large elastic waistband. But Jack, there's one kind of bottom that she doesn't see. Where are the pants? Yeah, where are the pants? Lisa speed dials Gila and just starts yelling. She's freaking out. What is this?

I'm not going anywhere in that mini skirt or those short shorts. I want a goddamn pant! Okay, to be fair, Pam and Gila, they didn't forget to send the pants. They've actually been working on track pants for months. They've carefully crafted the bell-bottom flair and its 70s throwback vibe. But the waistband still isn't right. An elastic is fine for tiny shorts, but with terry cloth pants wearing it down, the wearer is in danger of pants around ankle syndrome. You never want to get caught in one of those. So Pam and Gila leave the pants out of that first

shipment. We'll sell the shorts and the skirts and we'll wait to get the pants right. But Lisa is insistent. This is a tracksuit. They're meant to be sold together as one, top and bottom. So no pants, no sales. Pam and Gila get the message and they send along their imperfect prototypes and cross their fingers. Jack, not easy to do for a couple of detail-obsessed perfectionists. These pants are like barely an MVP. A minimum viable product. But honestly, it's a good thing Shaller bullied them into sending the imperfect pants because MVPs play a critical role in creating the best ideas yet.

As long as your product's not going to kill anybody, it's often better to release the awkward version and then iterate from there. If you hold back too long, you're going to miss out on critical audience feedback and you may miss out on an entire moment. Well, lucky for these two, they do not miss their opportunity window. Within a few months, Pam and Gila get the waistband right using a quick cord, a wide elastic waistband with a drawstring. It's a little trick that they actually learned in their maternity fashion days. The quick cord makes the pants comfy but also flattering, letting the pants sit on the hips without worrying about showing top cheek. It is the final puzzle piece to the tracksuit's perfect silhouette, advancing it from MVP to final draft. The track pants, they're going to retail

for 80 bucks. The hoodie, 75. Again, our price point here, aspirational, but possible for the everyday customer. It's Goldilocks. So with the tracksuit done, Juicy Couture is ready to take their marketing to the next level. And as second time founders, Pam and Gila know just what to do. Get ready to feel like a maitre d'etnobu because Jack and I, we're about to drop some names. because Jack and I were about to drop some names. Now remember, YETI's Pam and Gila, this isn't their first rodeo. They have seen how celebrity endorsements have worked in their favor with Travis Jeans and Melanie Griffith and then with the perfect tee and Jennifer Aniston. So this time around targeting celebrities is going to be their

top priority. It's number one. No ads, no billboards, no commercials during Paris Fashion Week. They're about to go full TMZ on their marketing. So they hire a PR whiz named Janie Lopate to become their celebrity whisperer. Janie's an up and comer with a stellar reputation with the Hollywood set. Like Pam and Gila, Janie comes from LA's high-end boutique scene. Only her specialty is something called clientele. In her last job, Janie curated a shop's high-end boutique scene. Only her specialty is something called clientele. In her last job, Janie curated a shop-at-home experience for celebrities by sending designer clothes straight to their doors. So Janie's address book is full of celebrities' home addresses, and more importantly, their sizes. So pretty soon, Juicy tracksuits are in those boxes.

Janie's pioneering the freebie strategy. Basically, the gift that's also an unspoken quid pro quo. Now today, of course, celebs and influencers are constantly approached with products for free. In fact, they're more than free. They're paid to use those products and rep the brands on social media. But back in 2001, the freebie strategy is new and a personal gift with a human touch can be enough to earn celebrity acceptance. But here's the catch. This only works if the celebs actually wear the things that you're gifting them.

It's kind of a litmus test. If the tracksuits are duds, then the celebs will regift them to their staff. Meaning you've just mailed thousands of dollars worth of products to the best dressed nannies in Malibu. But for Pam and Gila sending the free goodies, it's worth the gamble. So they unleash Janie's address book and pretty soon the brightest stars of the early 2000s start receiving juicy care packages. Ready for this Jack? It's going to sound like an Oscars nom list. Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon. Janie sends packages to Jessica Alba and Halle Berry

several times a month. She's basically watching the movie credits, checking her Rolodex, and then just hidden up FedEx. They focus on a few A-list individuals as a means to reach the masses. But Juicy doesn't stop there. Cold calls are chilly. Warm intros are hot.

I like what you did there, Jack. So the team brainstorms. Who knows who here? Who can get us a connection to this or that celebrity? They actually lean into Pam's husband, who happens to be a producer in LA, and they lean on Gila's new husband, who's a musician, also connected in LA. And then they drop $50,000 to throw a party at the Chateau Marmont, an infamous hotel on LA's Sunset Strip. This day of indulgences blows through most of their marketing budget. They give away 500 pieces of clothing, pretty much to anyone who has an IMDB page.

But here's the funny thing when you add it up, Jack. Jack, that $50,000 giveaway party is arguably less effective than one single lucky music video. It's the summer of 2001 and JLo, she's planning a remix of her song, I'm Real, featuring a name that will really take you back to 01, Ja Rule. The video is going to be filmed in a single shoot day on the basketball courts of East LA. The vibe, like the song, it's all about realness. When JLo's stylists come to dress her for the shoot, they bring racks and racks of designer clothing, worth thousands of dollars a piece. But JLo's pushing through the rack and like nothing really sits right. Like how real would she look dancing across the half court line in a pricey couture outfit? This is Jenny from the block, after all.

So she thinks back to a care package she received from an upstart brand called Juicy. Juicy sent her a pink velour hoodie with little booty shorts. Luxe, but casual. This is the vibe she wants for her video. So JLo rejects the stylist, and instead she wears wears her juicy tracksuit for the video shoot. And saying this as respectfully as possible, she makes it look good. It's time, the way you smile, the way you smile.

JLo goes on to great things, by the way. Jaurul goes on to fire festival. Hahaha! Not only does this video look great, it becomes one of the biggest moments of that year's VMAs. And that song? It becomes one of Billboard's top five singles of the year. As far as we can tell in our research, this is the first truly viral moment for the juicy

tracksuit. This is the inflection point. This is the publicity you can't buy. Perfectly put, Jack. JLo's approval gives the track suit huge credibility, opening the door for other celebs to dive into their own Juicy Care packages. Jack, imagine the feeling Pam and Gila must have had

when they first heard about the music video. They were probably in their kitchens, weren't even thinking about it. And then Pam texts Gila in all caps, JLo is wearing our trackuit in a music video. Well, soon those care packages are gonna pay off in a big way, thanks to five little words.

Stars, they're just like us. We bet you didn't know. Our new quieter trains are great for listening to that self-help podcast you lied about actually listening to. Get on board. Via Rail. Love the way. Tabloids. They've been around almost as long as the newspapers themselves. Historically, gossip has always focused on the ways stars are different. Lavish weddings. And divorces.

Elaborate plastic surgeries. Bizarro conspiracy theories. Does Danny DeVito worship Satan? Buy our tabloid to find out. But in 2002, the tabloid Us Weekly upends the entire genre with a simple photo segment aimed not at how celebrities exist in some higher plane of existence, but how they're actual human beings, just like us. It's called Stars.

They're just like us. And it debuts on April 1st, 2002, featuring Drew Barrymore picking up a coin from the sidewalk. This one picture of Drew looking relatable, it transforms the entire tabloid economy. Suddenly, every celeb-focused magazine, from People to In Touch, is featuring photos of stars going to the drugstore, picking up their kids,

chomping on a chalupa over at Casa Vega. In one sense, you might call this refreshing. There's less pressure on stars to seem perfect, less Frank Sinatra fab, more might call this refreshing. There's less pressure on stars to seem perfect. Less Frank Sinatra fab. More Seth Rogen raw. But this also does open up a whole new minefield for famous folks. Because these celebs, especially the women, are still judged on their appearance even when they're supposedly off the clock.

Paparazzi, they are perfectly happy to catch them in yesterday's sloppy sweatpants and splash that pic everywhere. So which sweatpants they catch you in really matters. This shift in the tabloid industry is huge for Juicy because with this new demand for dress down stars, the Juicy tracksuit serves a very tactical function. All the work Pam and Gila poured into the details, the fit, the fabric, the comfort, the color. This is the tracksuit a celeb can throw on quickly and still look elevated.

The product becomes the ideal solution to the sudden minefield of cameras waiting for them in the bushes. Juicy's high-low brand is made for this moment. Low enough to be relatable, but high enough to be aspirational. Yes, that's the balance. Seemingly, all at once, every celeb that Juicy ever sent a tracksuit to starts wearing them in public. And these become key moments in Juicy fashion history. Britney Spears in blue velour shopping

at the Sunset Plaza. Lindsay Lohan on the red carpet in emerald green Juicy in flip flops. Madonna on the streets of London in custom embroidered Juicy with her British nickname Madge spelled out in sparkly letters. Even in the grainy candidates, they all look sporty, they all look fabulous, and they all look pretty comfortable. Gossip writers start calling this parade of stars

the Juicy Brigade. So of course, gossip readers think, hey, I want some Juicy too. Sales of this tracksuit take off. In this stretch from mid 2002 to early 2003, Juicy Couture churns out more than 300,000 tracksuits every month. Whoa!

Making up 75% of their business. The world is in full fledged Juicy Mania. And the juice is worth the squeeze. Pam and Gila's small operation can barely keep up with demand, so they call in some big dogs for help. And this will be both the best and worst thing to ever happen to their business. Pam and Gila are looking at each other and wondering, are they overdressed or are they underdressed?

The Juicy Founders are in New York, and they're about to meet a room full of corporate employees at Liz Claiborne, Inc. Their audience is full of gray suits. At Pam and Gila, they're in matching corduroy miniskirts and juicy brand tube socks. It's March 18, 2003 and it's official. Liz Claiborne Inc is acquiring Juicy Couture for $56 million. Huge deal! So let's add some background here. Liz Claiborne is a Fortune 500 apparel company founded in the 1970s But another trailblazing woman in fashion that would be Liz herself through the 80s

It grew rapidly hitting every mall in America, including the one near me They acquired one company after another representing more than a third of women's upscale sportswear now in 2003 Liz Claiborne is in another acquisition spree, with Juicy being the crown jewel. This is Pam and Gila's big moment. You see, they've been struggling to produce enough Juicy Couture tracksuits just to keep up with demand. Remember, when they started the Travis Jeans company,

we said it was important not to take in more orders than you can fulfill over scalitis. Well Well that's what starts happening to Juicy. Their once rock solid supply chain is getting unstable. Quality is slipping. Tops and bottoms are showing up with slightly different colors. Pants show up with legs at different lengths. The glittery studs that spell out Juicy on the butt, they're falling off after one wash. And Oosie is way less cool than Juicy. Oh yeah, that is a fashion faux-project. Now Nick, the best acquisitions combine complementary strengths. Liz Claiborne has the infrastructure Juicy needs,

and Pam and Gila have the design eye Liz Claiborne wants. So Pam and Gila stay on as co-presidents of the brand they created under Liz Claiborne. The two co-founders get $56 million plus a massive bonus if Juicy hits their sales targets. A spoiler alert, they will, which yields Pam and Gilla a combined $200 million for selling Juicy. Liz Claiborne's got big plans for a Juicy expansion. More retail stores, more international distribution, handbags, dog carriers, a fragrance line, anything Paris Hilton

might want to buy, they're gonna make. Well in 2008, Juicy Couture's annual sales peaked at $605 million. That's about the same as Canada Goose, Viori, and Spanx have today. But 2008 ends with a pesky little global financial crisis. The subprime mortgage bubble is about to pop Juicy Couture at the seams. 2008 was arguably the most eventful year of that entire decade. Barack Obama is elected president. Beijing's Olympics revealed China as the next great economy. And Twilight finally hits movie theaters.

Uh oh. And also, you know, the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression. The economic downturn. It's the most frequently recurring character on this show. Discount brands like Costco thrive during this moment, but casual luxury takes a hit. According to Liz Claiborne's May 2009 financial statements, it's been three straight quarters of earnings decline, and Ju and juicy sales fall over 20%. It almost like makes sense 2008 is the year juicy starts falling down. We had gigantic homes, we had Cadillac escalates and we had the Juicy Couture tracksuit, the

holy trinity of pre financial crisis exuberance. But you know what? There's actually a bigger problem here. In just seven short years, Juicy Tracksuits have gone from the thing everyone wants to the thing everyone has. This is the luxury paradox. Exclusivity drives demand, but scale kills exclusivity. The Juicy Tracksuit is like the hip little restaurant that turns into a tourist trap when it goes viral. So, for the second time in their entrepreneurial lives, Pam and Gila see the writing on the wall. In 2010, when it's time to renew their contracts as co-presidents of Juicy, they decline and they walk out the door. In 2013, Liz Claiborne sells Juicy Couture to Authentic Brands Group, or ABG, for a little under $200 million. A company once doing $600 million a year in sales

sells itself for a third of that. The Juicy Couture tracksuit as an aspirational outfit, it is dead. Or is it, Nick? Oh, okay, okay, Juicy is definitely not dead because all fashion is cyclical and hot trends that are cool get hot again. In 2016, Juicy collabs with a buzzy luxury brand

to create a limited edition tracksuit. It costs about $1,000. Okay. But Kylie Jenner posts a pic of herself wearing it with the words Juicy sparkling on her butt. Okay, was Kylie even born when Juicy was launched? Good question. Well, in 2019, J-Lo, the original Juicy Stan, appears in not one, but two different Juicy

outfits for the movie Hustlers. Meanwhile, Pam and Gila did not fade into the sunset. In 2014, they started another boutique fashion brand named Pam and Gila, and that brand got acquired too. As for their legacy, besides Jewel Tone, Hip Huggers, and the J-Pull zipper, just look at the $300 billion Athleisure slash luxury loungewear market that Juicy set the stage for. With brands like Lululemon, Atleta, Aloe, Viori surging with yoga pants, the sector is projected to more than double by 2032. How long will Juicy's nostalgia train keep running?

TBD. But either way, zip up your J-Pulls and salute to the little tracksuit that could. So Jack, now that you've heard the story of the Juicy Couture tracksuit, what's your takeaway? For good leg day, work out that second time founder muscle. Second time founders are powerful. They have a higher success rate on startups than first time founders do, even if their first go around failed. The success rate is especially high for their second shot if it's in the same industry as the first shot because entrepreneurship is like a muscle. The more reps you get in, the stronger it gets. I mean, Jack, we have seen the benefits of launching our second company in the media space.

We came into it having learned from every mistake that we made the first time. We basically had a checklist of what we had to do. As well as what to not do. Oh, totally. The Juicy Couture founders are a perfect example of this. Juicy was such a fast success because of what they learned

with their first fashion venture, Travis Jeans. So as a founder, aim to get that first set of reps under your belt. Work out the second time founder muscle. You'll see the results. What about you, Nick? What's your takeaway? Okay, you ready? Here's what we're going to call this jack.

Six degrees of Paris Hilton. You've got more connections than you realize you do. And I don't just mean in the fashion world. Just open up LinkedIn and see how many people you know, know the people that can help you. Juicy was one of the very first brands to truly leverage the fashion attention paid to celebs by the gossip mags. They were surgical about who could help them elevate their product. And then they were surgical about how to get a warm intro.

But honestly, you can do this too. Maybe it's not a celebrity endorsement that you need. It might be Apple's SVP of marketing. It's easy to think, there's no way I can get to him. He's an SVP at Apple. But getting to someone at Apple who knows him might be easier than you think. Yes, always tap your network to see what resources

and personal connections you have and then tap them to make the next connections. It's usually more than you think. What it is, is six degrees of parasyltum. I actually think I'm only three degrees from parasyltum. Apparently, Jack, you two interned at the same different parasyltums. Okay, before we go, it's time for my absolute favorite part of the show, the best facts yet.

These are the hero stats, the facts, and the surprises we discovered in our research, but we just couldn't fit into the story. Jack, let's hear them. What do we got, man? According to Juicy Lore, there is a rumored Juicy curse, specifically a curse on marriages. You remember Madonna's Madge tracksuit? She wore that during her stint as Mrs. Guy Ritchie, but that marriage expired in 2008. Other custom embroidered tracksuits include Drew Barrymore's Mrs. Green hoodie for her marriage to actor Tom Green and Jennifer Aniston's Mrs. Pitt hoodie, which we all know what happened there as well. Britney Spears and Kevin Federline gave personalized tracksuits to their brides,

maids, and groomsmen before splitting three years later. And JLo? Current tally? Four marriages, four divorces, and a whole bunch of custom juicy couture. Yeah, Juicy, if you're listening, please don't send us any anniversary gifts. We're good. All right, Nick, I got another one for you. We promised we'd give you the dirt on how the word Juicy appeared on the bedazzled butts of these tracksuit pants. Well, it all comes down to Gila's son, Travis. Fall 2001, Gila is attending Travis's seventh grade orientation at his middle school. And she notices a cheerleader classmate wearing a pair of shorts that say cheer on the seat.

So Gila thinks it's kind of cute. And then she thinks, you know what? This could work for us. And before long, Juicy is appearing on the velour-wrapped butts of women across the world. And that is why Juicy Couture's track suit is the best idea yet. Coming up on the next episode of the best idea yet, we're dropping a pin to our current location because we're diving into the creation of Google Maps. Don't forget to rate and review the show. We love seeing your reviews.

We really read all of them and the five stars help us grow the show. Follow the best idea yet on the Wondery app, Amazon music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to every episode of the best idea yet early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. The best idea yet is a production of Wondery hosted by me, Nick Marta, and me, Jack Kraviche Kramer.

Our senior producers are Matt Beagle and Chris Gaultier. Peter Arcuni is our additional senior producer. Our senior managing producer is Nick Ryan and Taylor Sniffin is our managing producer. Our associate producer and researcher is H. Conley. This episode was written and produced by Katie Clark Gray. We use so many sources in our research, including the Glitter Plan, how we started Juicy Couture for $200 and turned it into a global brand by Pamela Skyes-Levy and Gila Nash Taylor. And How Juicy Couture Went From A Million Dollar Empire To The Cell Rack by Irene Kim and Steve Cameron for Business Insider.

Sound Design and Mixing by CJ Drummler. Fact Checking by Brian Bunyan. Music Supervision by Scott Velazquez and Jolina Garcia for Freesan Sync. Our theme song is Got That Feelin' Again by Blakalak. Executive producers for Nick and Jack Studios are me, Nick Martel. And me, Jack Ravici Kramer. Executive producers for Wondery are Dave Easton, Jenny Lauer Beckman, Erin O'Flaherty and Marshall Lewy. Alice and Matt here from Wanderies podcast British Scandal.

Join us for our latest series, a truly saucy tale of sex, society and scandal. It was the tabloid sensation of the 60s, a wealthy socialite more used to gracing the pages of Tatler, suddenly thrust onto the front pages of the newspapers for all the wrong reasons. Margaret Campbell was the Duchess of Argyle, but when her gambling, cheating husband's money problems became marriage problems, he divorced her, telling the world about her voracious sexual appetite and 88 lovers.

But Margaret was not prepared to go down without a fight. So get ready for wind up copper penises, you heard me, dodgy polaroids and disgrace. The Dirty Duchess is available now. Follow British Scandal now wherever you listen to podcasts and binge entire seasons early and ad-free on Wondery Plus. Do you think it's the first time that any Wondery title has said wind up copper penis? The question is, will it be the last?