In the past two weeks, some of Gen Z’s favorite brands—like candy-colored Madhappy and cool-girl athleisure Sporty & Rich—have launched collaborations with millennial-loved labels like Freecity and Juicy Couture, known for their California-ready sweatsuits and tracksuits. The reception has been overwhelmingly positive, especially for the Madhappy x Freecity collab that led with Gen Z social media stars and sisters Devon Lee and Sydney Carlson.
For Madhappy co-founder Noah Raf, the decision to collaborate with Freecity was easy, especially as a longtime LA resident. “I connected with Nina [of Freecity] a few years back, and it was one of those moments where you just hit it off with someone,” he said. “She is a true artist, and everything she does is entirely authentic. I grew up on Freecity, and in many ways, they have been an inspiration for what we’re doing at Madhappy: Raw. California. Optimism.”
That mentality was echoed by Emily Oberg, creative director and founder of Sporty & Rich, who gushed about the significance of her collaboration with Juicy Couture. On Instagram, she posted “Juicy was THE brand of the Y2K generation and what Pam & Gela created was the first of its kind… Someone once said to me that Sporty & Rich was today’s version of Juicy, and I think that’s the best compliment I’ve ever got.”
And then there’s designer Hiroaki Sueyasu of Kidill, who also has a Juicy Couture collaboration in the works. “I remember that from the late 1990s through the 2000s, Juicy Couture became hugely popular thanks to celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears,” he noted. “In Japan, it gained widespread popularity through artists and celebrities, most notably Ayumi Hamasaki.” And as for the return of the iconic rhinestone tracksuit 20-something years later, Sueyasu says everything that goes around tends to come back around. “Juicy has been consumed and referenced so extensively over the years, its brand image has almost come full circle and feels surprisingly fresh again. That sense of unexpectedness is what makes a collaboration with Kidill interesting to me today.”
These days, Gen Zers are deeply rooted in the 2000s behavior. Not only are some buying old flip phones to be offline when they go out, but others are even spending up to $90 dollars to get photographed on a Polaroid camera in the digital age. As for older Gen Zers, who were likely in grade school in the early 2000s, these days they’re now entering the workforce and have the funds to get the things they always dreamed of but weren’t able to afford as kids. Many on the Zillenial cusp might have had the opportunity to wear a pair of hand-me-down Freecity sweats or Juicy sets from their older siblings, while others enviously watched their favorite Disney Channel stars and singers getting papped in their off-duty clothes with a flip phone and Ugg boots. It could also be that they just want to feel something, according to Raf. “In a day and age when we are all tied up on our phones and consumed to the extent that we are, Freecity takes you back to a time before any of that existed,” he said.
Below, we asked three Vogue staffers about their favorite collaborations and sweatsuit comebacks of 2026.
Madhappy x Freecity
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