Juicy Couture Founders: 'It's Been Painful To Watch The Brand Fall'

Juicy Couture's rhinestone-encrusted clothes were once sold out of gleaming flagship stores on famed shopping streets like Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.

Now, they're peddled at Kohl's.

Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, the founders of Juicy Couture and co-authors of the new tell-all about the brand The Glitter Plan, weren't counting on Juicy's downfall when they stepped away from the business forever four years ago.

"It's been painful to watch the brand fall down after we left," Skaist-Levy told The Huffington Post in an interview on Wednesday. "We wanted Juicy to be the great American girly brand. It was our legacy."

The pair sold Juicy to Liz Claiborne for $53.1 million in 2003, but remained in charge of the brand. They watched as it shot to the forefront of pop culture. Celebrities from Paris Hilton to Jennifer Aniston trotted around in bedazzled velour tracksuits. The clothes spilled out into suburbia, where it-teens and affluent moms sported "Juicy" butts.

But over the years, Juicy faded. It didn't move to adopt new fashion trends, opting to stick with the same old styles that succeeded during its heyday a decade earlier. Sales of the tracksuits withered away, and Juicy never came up with another hit product to bring back shoppers.

Skaist-Levy and Nash-Taylor left Juicy and Liz Clairborne in 2010 after disagreements with chief executive Bill McComb. (Liz Claiborne then changed its name to Fifth & Pacific, then changed it again to Kate Spade & Co.)

Pamela Skaist-Levy (L) and Gela Nash-Taylor (R).

"We were just hanging on" in 2003, said Nash-Taylor, reflecting on the sale. "But you have to also know that when you have a company like Juicy, when you sell it, there's always a chance that someone will not see the vision the same way we did, and you have to live with that."

In September 2013, Juicy changed hands again: Authentic Brands Group, a licensing company that controls the rights to the brands of dead celebrities Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, bought the company from then-Fifth & Pacific for $195 million.

Though Juicy's last U.S. stores will close this month, ABG plans to open new boutiques, tentatively named World of Juicy, in New York City next year. CEO Jamie Salter told HuffPost that he's trying to get the "coolness back."

“The beach, the whole relaxed lifestyle that Juicy Couture created -- as time went on, they sort of forgot about that,” said Salter.

The new Juicy will divide its products into two tiers. The regular wares will still be sold in places like Kohl's, while a new, premium "black label" line will be available online and in the forthcoming boutique shops.

Skaist-Levy and Nash-Taylor aren't done yet with sparkly California glam. They've started a brand called Pam & Gela, attempting to recreate the magic that helped make them millions a decade ago. The new label, which launched this spring and is available at swanky department stores like Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus, hones in on that L.A.-luxe vibe, the duo said.

"The Pam & Gela girl is hanging out at the corner of Melrose and La Brea, pretty much," wrote Style.com's Maya Singer. "She's got a couple of tattoos and a regular and expensive habit at M Cafe de Chaya."

As for Juicy, Skaist-Levy and Nash-Taylor wish the brand the best, but it's no longer part of their lives. They've turned off their Google Alerts for 'Juicy Couture' and watch from the sidelines, hoping ABG can do something to "resurrect" the name.

"Juicy is just not our baby any more," said Skaist-Levy. "It's like thinking about your high school boyfriend. He was cute then, and that was all good, but that was the past."

People Are Clamoring For Jobs At The Gap, And That's A Problem

President Obama pays for clothing at the Gap after the company announced it would raise its minimum wage.

Just a few months after announcing plans to raise its minimum wage to $9 an hour this year (and $10 an hour by 2015), Gap Inc. is already cheering the success of the initiative, citing a surge in job applicants.

A spokesperson for Gap Inc. confirmed to The Huffington Post Tuesday that all of the company's brands have seen an uptick in job applications since last year at this time. For Gap and Old Navy, that percentage increase is in the double-digits, the spokesperson said.

The news that people are clamoring for a job that pays $9 an hour -- while good news for Gap -- is an indication of just how low American wages are today, David Cooper, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, told HuffPost. A job that pays $9 only amounts to $18,720 a year for someone working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year -- a salary that puts a family of three below the federal poverty threshold, he noted.

That said, Cooper applauded the apparel chain's move.

"Gap's story is another good example of one of the positive examples that come from businesses that pay higher wages," he said. "Those businesses are able to attract and maintain a better work force."

Gap's ability to attract more qualified, skilled workers for such low pay is yet another sign that America's uneven recovery is taking a serious toll on Americans.

"A lot more people are having to take lower-paying jobs," Cooper said. "The Recession exacerbated this trend, but it's something that's been going on for a long time."

As low-paying jobs have replaced middle-class opportunities lost in the economic downturn, getting a low-paying job at the Gap, or at McDonald's, has become much more competitive. Today, Walmart has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard.

But not all successful retailers pay poverty wages. Take the successful big box store Costco, which pays a starting hourly wage of $11.50. By upping its minimum wage now, Cooper says Gap is getting ahead of other retailers as the country considers raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, a proposal President Barack Obama has backed.

"It's reasonable to think we could get a minimum wage increase in the next two years," Cooper said. "By raising wages now, Gap gets first dibs on the best workers who would be out there looking for jobs."

Judge To Fast-Food Worker: 'Why Can't You Get A Real Job?'

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana judge told a 21-year-old man convicted in a vandalism spree to replace his fast-food job with a "real job" so he can more quickly pay restitution.

The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/T727m2) District Judge G. Todd Baugh (baw) sentenced Brandon Daniel Turell to 10 years, with five suspended, and ordered him to pay over $13,000 in restitution. Baugh is separately facing public censure and suspension for saying a 14-year-old rape victim appeared "older than her chronological age."

Prosecutors said Turell and a co-defendant used a stolen BB gun to shoot out the windows of about 100 vehicles in December 2012.

Baugh asked Turell what he was doing to repay his victims. Turell said he had been working at Burger King, to which Baugh responded: "Why can't you get a real job?"

Turell said he was making $9.50 an hour.

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Information from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com

T-Mobile CEO John Legere: AT&T And Verizon Are 'Raping You'

T-Mobile’s foulmouthed chief executive may finally want to bite his tongue.

During an expletive-laced presentation at a company event on Wednesday, CEO John Legere compared the prices of rivals AT&T and Verizon to rape, infuriating many who felt he had finally taken his hyperbole too far.

“These high and might duopolists that are raping you for every penny you have, if they could do something nice for you they would,” he said on stage at Seattle's Paramount Theatre. “The fuckers hate you.”

He apologized on Thursday afternoon:

I know I have an Rated R vocabulary, but even I can go too far. Sincere apologies to anyone offended last night

— John Legere (@JohnLegere) June 19, 2014

Legere was discussing marketing ploys by AT&T and Verizon, which together share about 60 percent of the U.S. mobile market.

You can see for yourself at around 1:12 in the video below:

The remark stirred anger, not at T-Mobile's competitors, but at Legere:

@TMobile explain CEO Legere's comments that compared corporate tactics to rape? Or you gonna play the silent game?

— Matthew the ΚΚΨ Jedi (@blacksaber1993) June 19, 2014

@BloombergNews I'm sick of this. Both the "Carrier war" and the casual tossing around of "rape". I have @TMobile but their CEO makes me ill.

— Keri Imrisek (@KeriImrisek) June 19, 2014

"@TIME: T-Mobile's CEO: AT&T and Verizon are 'raping you' http://t.co/xBsxgRR3cf" here we go with the rape comparisons. Smh. Jackass.

— كلا (@thirdeyesquints) June 19, 2014

T-Mobile spokeswoman Tolena Thorburn declined to comment about the remark except to direct The Huffington Post to Legere's tweet and a video replay of the event on the company’s website.

Legere has a history of bashing his rivals, but he seems particularly peeved about Amazon's decision to exclusively offer its new Fire Phone on AT&T's network.

Let's hope @amazon doesn't fall victim to the @att curse that is the facebook phone. #onemonth

— John Legere (@JohnLegere) June 17, 2014

Known for his off-the-cuff style, Legere has long swapped the decorum exercised by most executives for language that may help him seem real and accessible.

In this case, he might have gone too far.

This post has been updated with Legere's apology.

[H/T Business Insider]

SunTrust To Pay Nearly $1 Billion To Settle Faulty Mortgage Allegations

WASHINGTON (AP) — SunTrust has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to resolve allegations that it underwrote and endorsed faulty mortgage loans, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The $968 million settlement, reached with the Justice Department and other government agencies, will include money for homeowner relief and a requirement that the company improve its handling of mortgage loans and foreclosures.

In announcing the agreement, authorities said SunTrust Mortgage, a Richmond, Virginia-based mortgage lender and subsidiary of SunTrust Banks Inc., originated and underwrote bad loans between 2006 and 2012, gave borrowers false and misleading information about the status of foreclosure proceedings and charged unauthorized fees.

The company's own internal documents showed an awareness of the problem, the government alleged, with one 2012 report referencing a "broken loan origination process."

"SunTrust's conduct is a prime example of the widespread underwriting failures that helped bring about the financial crisis" of 2008, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. He said he expected similar cases in the future.

As part of the deal, SunTrust has agreed to pay $500 million to help borrowers at risk of default and homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages, and $418 million to resolve allegations that it underwrote bad loans. It's also agreed to a $50 million cash penalty, with $40 million to be distributed to borrowers and homeowners.

The settlement also involves the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state attorneys general from across the country. A monitor will ensure compliance with the agreement, which was filed in federal court in Washington.

SunTrust chief executive William H. Rogers Jr. said in a statement that SunTrust was pleased to have resolved the allegations. He said the company has made improvements to its mortgage underwriting processes and internal controls, including increased training.

SunTrust had announced the anticipated settlement in October.