|
Guess (styled as GUESS?) is an American name-brand
clothing line. Guess also markets other
fashion accessories besides clothes,
such as
watches and
jewelry. They also own the line
Marciano.
History
The beginning
Guess was founded by Georges, Armand, Paul, and
Maurice Marciano, four brothers born in
Ouarzazate,
Morocco. They moved to
California in 1977 and founded the company in 1981.
Seed money to start the business came from the
Nakash family, owners of the
Jordache denim empire. Their first product was a
three-zipper style of jeans they named "Marilyn" (Style
# 1015). Department stores and fashion critics were
initially reluctant to carry the new 'stone washed
denim' jeans, but in December when
Bloomingdale's finally
agreed with Georges to stock two dozen pairs of the new
jeans as a favor to the brothers. They sold out quickly.
Their advertising campaigns began in 1982, and they
introduced their iconic black-and-white ads in 1985. The
ads have won numerous
Clio Awards. Their fashion models have included a
number of widely-recognized
supermodels, many of whom first achieved prominence
via the ad campaigns.
In the 1985
Robert Zemeckis movie,
Back to the Future, Marty McFly (Michael
J Fox) wore distinctive Guess denim clothing,
[2] reportedly designed
specifically for the film.
During the 1980s Guess was one of the most popular
brands of jeans. The company was one of the first
companies to create
designer jeans. While
the first jeans were for women, in 1983 a men's line
debuted. In 1984 Guess introduced its new line of
watches known as "Guess", "Guess Steel", and the "Guess
Collection" The watch line is still in existence
today, and has been joined by a number of other
accessory sidelines. In 1984, they also introduced a
line of baby's clothes, called "Baby Guess".
Guess Home
In the 1990s, they also had a division called
Guess Home, which featured youthful, upscale bedding
collections (Guess was the first company to package each
sheet, duvet and pillowcase pair in packaging actually
made from sheeting material, which was a clever way to
show what the pattern really looked like) as well as a
number of innovative towel collections. By the end of
the decade, sales dropped and Guess discontinued their
home division.
Stagnation and Controversy
After Abigail's line in the 1980s the company began
to take a downturn during the nineties, as other
companies such as
Calvin Klein,
Diesel,
Tommy Hilfiger, and
Gap began rising in popularity. Guess' sales
suffered, and its stock dropped dramatically.
As well as increasing competition, Guess also saw a
serious tarnishing of its image during this time. More
significantly, as awareness of
sweatshop use among major corporations grew, Guess
was quickly marked as a major offender in this area. In
1992, Guess contractors faced litigation from the US
Department of Labor (DOL) due to failure to pay
their employees the minimum wage or adequate overtime.
Rather than face a court case, $573,000 in back wages
was paid to employees.
Soon afterward, Guess promised to monitor their
contractors for illegal activity, and the company earned
a place on the US DOL's 'Trendsetters List', but this
position was suspended several years later in 1996 after
independent inspectors found violations of regulations
at seven of the company's contractors. In the same year
the company was sued by the
Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees
(UNITE), again due to the failure to pay the minimum
wage or overtime to workers. The settlement, supervised
by the US Department of Labor, saw the reinstatement of
8 workers found to have been illegally fired and another
$80,000 in back pay given to workers, but almost
immediately afterward Guess announced that it was moving
its sewing production to Mexico. The company denied that
the move was related to these court cases, but its
public image continued to suffer.
Throughout the nineties, UNITE continued a public
relations campaign against Guess, focusing on the
experiences of former employees. Eventually, Guess
countered with a defamation suit against Unite and
several of its officials, while in 1997 the company ran
full-page ads in many major American newspapers claiming
that its contractors were guaranteed 100% free of
sweatshop labour. The wording of these ads was
changed after federal authorities complained that the
claims had not been made by anyone in the government and
had no official status. Guess especially began expanding
in the less competitive and increasingly lucrative
European and
Japanese markets. In 2005 Guess pulled a line of
t-shirts from the market after Erika Becker-Medina
[1] , a DC area resident and government employee,
spearheaded a campaign calling for the boycott of the
company. "Ski Colombia: Always Plenty of Fresh
Powder" was designed on the t-shirts released by
the company in the second quarter of 2005, apparently in
reference to
Colombia's drug-trafficking problem. Guess
distributed letters of apology.
Upswing
In the 2000s, the company promoted a different look and
sense of style, while the controversy that surrounded
the company during the nineties was largely forgotten.
As the marketing ads grew increasingly sexier, Guess's
sales began to take a turn for the better. In 2005,
Guess began catching the eye of many new people (mainly
teens) who were unaware of Guess's earlier history.
Since mid-2003, the Guess stock has continuously risen,
eliciting nothing but positive reviews from stock
holders and
Wall Street, though the wider community has more
mixed opinions. Recently, the clothing and accessories
company has redesigned itself, offering several new
aspects to the company. Since Guess was looking to
make its impact once again on the fashion market, the
Marciano brothers called upon hotel heiress and fashion
mogul Paris Hilton to feature in a new series of ads.
The daring ads were successful in grabbing media
attention for the company. The company even promoted a
line of Paris accessories including a Guess Paris Hilton
handbag.
Today
In 2004, Guess celebrated the 20th anniversary of its
watch collection, issuing a special-edition Guess watch.
The accessories department was also greatly expanded and
several stores across the United States were redesigned.
Guess also created a lower priced collection sold
exclusively through its outlet locations. Guess also
introduced its first brand extension, the up-scale
female line of clothing and accessories, named Marciano.
The line features pricey, runway-inspired styles, and is
featured in several retail locations throughout the
world, as well as select Guess retail stores.[citation
needed]
In 2005 Guess began marketing
perfume. The company introduced Guess for Women
in the spring of 2005. Guess introduced the Guess for
Men line in the spring of As of 2006[update].
Guess has also continued its Guess Kids clothing line
into the 2000s, and in 2006, Guess began promoting the
clothing line for girls and boys through its factory
retail stores. Guess continues to be guided by the
Marciano brothers, as co-chairmen and co-CEOs.
Maurice has overseen the design and its sales growth,
while Paul manages the image and advertising. The
company operates in many countries around the world with
the majority of their stores located in the
United States and
Canada.
In early 2007 Guess introduced a new business concept
known as G by Guess. The new brand sought to
focus on a target audience similar to Abercrombie's
Hollister brand. G by Guess offers clothes
popular among teenagers at an affordable price.[citation
needed] Many denim styles are priced
within the $40 to $50 range. The new brand is priced
similar to
Express,
American Eagle and
Gap. Guess? has already begun heavily promoting the
new concept in several cities across the United States.
Their stores feature eye-catching displays and offer a
sassy night-club atmosphere.
Around the same time, Guess? disabled their Guess
Factory website. The outlet website offered similar
styles at similar prices as the G by Guess line. The
company's factory stores will still remain open at their
respective outlet mall locations, however the discount
product is no longer available through an online
retailer.
[edit]
Expansion
In October 2006 Guess expanded their shoe line by
re-introducing men's shoes. Guess pulled the men's shoe
collection from their establishment back in 2003 due to
lackluster sales and interest. The initial response was
slow, however by early 2007, the new men's footwear line
began to increase steadily, and Guess? has continued to
push and introduce new designs into the line. The men's
footwear line now offers more than 15 styles ranging
between sandals to dress shoes.
In November 2006 Guess introduced their Marciano
men's line, which is available exclusively through
Guess.com, and select Guess and Marciano retailers
throughout the country. As of November 2006 the new
men's collection features button up shirts, blazers, and
dress pants. The men's line will, like the women's line,
be developed and manufactured in Florence, Italy; and
will be available for a higher price. As of January 2007
the Marciano men's line was pulled from Guess? stores
due to lackluster sales. The merchandise was marked
down, and will be sent to factory outlet stores upon
deletion. After the success of the fragrance line which
included scents for both men and women, Guess?
introduced two new fragrances. Guess? Gold is the latest
addition to the women's collection, while Guess? Suede
was the second installment for the men's fragrance. Both
scents retail for around $50 and are available in
several retail locations.
With fiscal Spring 2007, Guess entered a new phase
with their GC watch collection. The newest additions are
in response to the growing demand for designer watches
featuring eye-catching designs, and high-end prices. The
new watches help to expand the popular GC collection,
and help to separate it from the mid-price watches Guess
has come to be known for. Moving away from the
traditional steel material used to produce the majority
of Guess? watches, the company along with Callanen
International, the producer of Guess? watches have
introduced gold, silver, and diamonds into the designs.
The new products are all Swiss made, and boast a much
higher pricer. The GC men's collection now range between
$200 and $1,200, while the women's watches are being
sold between $200 and $1,000.
TAG Heuer,
Dolce & Gabbana, and
Fendi all place the highest on Guess's competition
with entry level high-end watches. D&G, in late 2006
launched a massive campaign promoting their new D&G
watch collection, marketing on such TV channels as
MTV.
During the first half of 2007 Guess introduced a new
line, G by Guess. Throughout 2008, relatively
unknown model Adam Bertrand headlined Guess' advertising
campaigns.[3]
In October 2008 they opened up at Westfield Shopping
Centre in London and there are plans to open a branch in
Regent Street for autumn 2009.
Sweatshop allegations
Guess?, like many other clothing giants, has been criticised for its use
of clothings made in
sweatshops. Billboards subsequently appeared in Las Vegas and
New York featuring a photograph of Rage
Against the Machine with the caption "Rage Against Sweatshops: We
Don't Wear Guess? – A Message from Rage Against The Machine and UNITE.
Injustice. Don't buy it."[4]
References
External links
|
