Guess Clothing History

The four Marciano brothers, who were born in Morocco and raised in Marseilles, France, in the 1940s, established the apparel company Guess? in 1970 and have since become one of the most well-known fashion brands worldwide. The firm designs and markets a varied collection of casual denim, cotton and knit apparel for men, women and children of all ages. In addition to clothing, the company sells eyewear, footwear, jewelry, handbags, fragrances and watches. It continues in the 21st century to introduce new fashionable styles.

The Beginnings

The brothers first started an apparel business in the 1970s, with about a dozen stores in France. Their primary product were tight-fitting blue jeans, which had zippers at the ankles and were stone-washed to feel softer than the traditional denim jeans. The back pocket already sported the company's triangle logo. When the designer jean fad started dying out and the brothers owed a great deal of taxes to the French government (paid years later), they decided to try their luck in the United States.

Arriving in New York

In 1981, Georges and Maurice Marciano arrived in Los Angeles and opened a fashion store in Beverly Hills. The other two brothers would join them soon. George persuaded the Bloomingdale's New York store to buy on consignment 30 pairs of the Guess?-style jeans. They were sold in less than three hours, even though they were much more costly than the typical American jeans.

Advertising

What gave Guess? another huge boost was its unique marketing campaign. Instead of doing traditional indoor studio advertising, the beautiful models in their tight jeans were captured out of doors in grainy black and white photos. These sexual and provocative ads upset many Americans, but made Guess? the most talked about brand in the country. It also was a great success for selling the Guess? name and products.

1980s-990s

In the 1980s, Guess? wanted to find a less costly alternative to producing their jeans. They signed an agreement with Jordache as a way to manufacture in countries with lower labor costs. This soon became a huge legal battle, which started out with Guess? suing Jordache for making "knockoff" jeans for much less than its high-priced ones. For over five years, at about $10 million a year for legal fees for each party, the fight raged on. In 1990, the courts sided with the Marciano brothers. During this whole time, the business continued to grow in Italy, Canada and Japan. In 1993, sales were at $700 million.

21st century

During the economic slowdown of the early 1990s, Guess continued to do well. However, as the century was coming to an end, the business started moving more slowly. Yet, in 2002, the company was still listed as one of the top five leaders for total spending by American girls. Now a $1 billion dollar retailer, with a brick-and-mortar and online presence, the company is making business changes to adapt to the country's economic problems.