The stores were known for their on-trend merchandise, from sunflower-printed pieces, to velvet minidresses, and denim jackets. Contempo Casuals was so hot, it regularly got the attention of, and was featured, in teen magazines like Sassy. It even became part of movie history as a go-to store for Cher Horowitz and her friends in Clueless in 1995. That's the same year Wet Seal swooped in to buy the brand's 237 stores from the Neiman Marcus Group (via Racked). Perhaps the brand was already in financial trouble. Six years later, in 2001, Contempo Casuals disappeared from America's malls when all of its remaining stores were converted into Wet Seals and Arden B (which are also now defunct).
The Contempo Casual brand may be gone, but thanks to the internet, it lives on in online stores that sell the brand's vintage items, and on eBay. The brand's fans say the Contempo Casuals look still has a place in fashion today, so it may not come as a surprise that The Budget Fashionista called Contempo Casuals the godmother to 21st century teen fashion shrine Urban Outfitters.
