GELA NASH-TAYLOR & PAMELA SKAIST-LEVY
Co-Founders, Co-Presidents & Co-Designers
Juicy Couture

“[In Paris ] the Juicys are tackled by a British fashion journalist croaking, “The Juicys are here! I love the Juicys!” (No doubt thinking of the Beatles-like hysteria the pair caused when they opened their boutique at Harvey Nichols this year; there were lines around the block, and Englishwomen are not in the habit of lining up for clothes.)”
~ Vogue, April 2003

The power duo behind Juicy Couture, Gela Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy not only share an intense love of fashion, but an equally intense friendship. To paraphrase the late songwriter Dan Fogelberg, the two are “twin daughters of different mothers,” often dressing identically and finishing each other’s sentences. It is this sisterhood that has guided the phenomenal success of Juicy Couture which, since 1996, has evolved into a multimillion-dollar lifestyle brand.

Prior to entering the fashion trade and after graduating from Carnegie Mellon, Gela was an actress who appeared in both television and feature films. After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Pamela worked as a Hollywood costume designer.

Meeting through a mutual friend, Gela and Pamela subsequently decided to collaborate on a line of maternity wear, Travis Jeans, named for Gela ’s son. In 1996 they left the maternity arena to broaden their purview, launching a fun, colorful brand called Juicy Couture. They began with $200, working out of Gela ’s apartment. “My girlfriends always asked me how to start a business,” Gela says. “Men tell them they have to go to a bank, do a business plan, and borrow $60,000 to $100,000. If I’d started a business $60,000 in debt, I wouldn’t have been able to get up in the morning. We learned from our experiences, and we were lucky.” Pamela retorts, “We weren’t lucky. We worked our asses off!”