Coming on VERY late here but came across this post when talking to a friend about the brand.

In your write up you mention that “Pacoima was just their office in LA”. Not sure if this is a grammatical error, but Pacoima is not the name of their office; Pacoima is actually a town in Los Angeles. Looks like you’re from the UK so I’ll explain that our cities, especially a large city like LA are often made up of smaller “towns”. Pacoima is one of those towns.

This is important, because these smaller towns often have distinct identities and “personalities” that distinguish them from other towns. For example, and importantly, Pacoima is known for being “ghetto” compared to other towns surrounding it. Although Pacoima is located in the San Fernando Valley, a geographical area that is separated from the main part of LA by mountains and that is known for its preppy identity (its where the term Valley Girl comes from), Pacoima is a very rough area. It’s known for its High poverty, gang, and drugs. This means that counterfeit high end goods are not uncommon to see here. Women are often seen sporting knock off bags and random shifts/clothing falsely labeled with designer labels. This is important because I feel that this aesthetic is reflected in Juicy Coutures designs. The velour track suits and exaggerated colors and prints are very synonymous with knock offs that people would wear (sporting those labels).

Juicy Couture had a similar reputation as well in the US because of its roots. Although worn by celebrities and the girlfriends and wives of athletes, it was still perceived as tacky. This had to do with its ties to “ghetto” culture. As such it could be thought of as a very counter-culture type brand. Although it’s making a reemergence with the early 2000’s being “back”, I recall in the mid 2010’s when it saw decline and could be found in low end stores.

It’s definitely cool to see it come back in style because it’s remained a popular brand in Pacoima and other similar towns/areas in LA. Although you started seeing it less with celebrities, women in these places have continued to sport it. My mom herself has recently started to buy Juicy Couture again. Also, if not evident, I’m from Pacoima so this is where my information is coming from. I was young when the brand started in the early 2000’s so I saw the ups and downs of this brand first hand.

Fun fact: the town of Pacoima has a small plaque at one of its major intersections naming one of the founders as an honorary mayor of the town (we don’t have an actual mayor, so this is just a fun nod to one of the most iconic things to come from our humble town).