The official uniform of non-regular, cool moms everywhere, the Juicy Couture tracksuit has been consigned to the same vault where we keep trucker hats, Frankenshoes, and other early-aughts trends. But the now-reviled velour separates will soon grace the halls of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. According to Dazed and Confused, a 2004-era tracksuit is part of next year’s exhibit Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear, where it will stand alongside designs by Elsa Schiaparelli and Vivienne Westwood. How the tracksuit qualifies as underwear is hard to say (Julie Cooper certainly made a strong case for it as daywear).
This news throws the V&A’s decision to reject Margaret Thatcher’s wardrobe into high relief. After all, as a spokesperson said at the time, they only accept items of “outstanding aesthetic or technical quality.” Well … it does have the word “couture” right there on the label.