#siwanators

This new finding is gonna leave all our JoJo bow-clad ponytails drifting in orbit, y’all. As a Siwanator for who knows how long now, it certainly was a surprise for me. And it may even unveil possible clues as to how JoJo’s empire was being handled behind the scenes back in the late-2010′s.

You may or may not have heard of JoJo Siwa’s clothing line, JoJo’s Closet, which was sold only through Target from 2018 to 2022. It was targeted towards young Siwanators, and consisted of outfits and accessories inspired by actual costumes worn by JoJo during her shows, music videos, and even from her D.R.E.A.M. Tour. I myself happen to own quite a handful of stuff from JoJo’s Closet. But, did you know that before JoJo’s Closet came into fruition, it was originally going to be an ongoing collab with the Disney-owned clothing line, D-Signed? 

I had actually discovered this while searching through JoJo's Closet on Mercari. A seller on there had what appeared to be an alternate version of the rainbow dress JoJo wore during the D.R.E.A.M. Tour. Here is the dress:

[Picture courtesy of Mercari seller ChrisW]

The seller stated they had purchased if from someone back when their daughter was obsessed with JoJo, but had not realized until after receiving it that it was actually labeled as a prototype for D-Signed. Here is a photo of the tag and label:

[Picture courtesy of Mercari seller ChrisW]

This is definitely an interesting find! I wonder how this seller had gotten ahold of this prototype dress. They did not specify where they purchased the dress from, and so far this is the only prototype I have seen surface online. 

The prototype dress was manufactured in summer 2019, which lines up with the timeframe when JoJo’s Tour was taking place (and where she would be wearing the exact costume that inspired this dress). 

[Left, the prototype dress from D-Signed; Right, the final dress from JoJo’s Closet]

As seen above, there isn’t a huge difference between both versions of the dress, with the exception of the pale-pink color becoming hot-pink, and the ruffles on the sleeves going from opaque colors to lighter, translucent ones. 

[Left, the actual costume worn by JoJo during the D.R.E.A.M. Tour; Right, the dress inspired by the tour costume for JoJo’s Closet]

This finding leads me to a few questions: 

1. Was JoJo originally going to be working with Disney instead of Nickelodeon?

2. How did Disney get ahold of JoJo’s costume designs, if by 2019 she was already touring with those costumes, was working with Nickelodeon, and the JoJo’s Closet line was already a year old at Target?

3. How in the WORLD did that seller get ahold of this dress?

4. Could there be D-Signed prototypes of other clothing items from JoJo’s Closet we may not know of yet?