Who invented guess jeans

And no, you don't have to buy any expensive equipment or pay an expert Tell me what do you think of when you hear anything about the s. Most people would say that the first thing that comes to their head about the 80s would be about having fashion trends, with "big Skip to content Guess brand. Some history about all the brothers: Paul Marciano: Paul was born in and is the youngest of the four.

Georges Marciano: He was born in and he was a great part of the guess company. What is the Guess brand now? Prev Previous Which decade had the hottest music? Next 5 of the coolest things from the 80s Next. Continue Reading. The story began in Having fallen in love with Los Angeles on a family vacation, the four Marciano brothers, from the South of France, decided to make it their home. Soon it became the name on their headquarters building on Olympic Boulevard, just down the street from the billboard that had inspired them.

In love with Americana, the brothers chose an American icon for their breakthrough product: a slim-fitting, stonewashed, three-zip ankle jean they called the Marilyn Jean. The Marilyn 3-Zip jean was sexy, a Jean for those who wanted to make a statement and express their individual style and attitude. GUESS quickly infi ltrated popular culture and became an icon of the generation.

GUESS created groundbreaking advertising campaigns featuring sexy, sultry models previously unknown in the industry and turned them into superstars overnight. With these striking images and fresh new products, the Brand gained momentum and nationwide recognition.

The Marcianos sued the Nakash brothers and Jordache in , charging that company with unfair competition and claiming that the Nakash brothers were using their position on the Guess board of directors and their access to Guess designs in the Hong Kong plant to produce knockoffs of Guess clothing in their Jordache line. The Marcianos' suit asked the court to undo the agreement that had given the Nakashes control of half of Guess.

The battle for control of Guess continued for the next five years. Along the way, both sides leveled charges of corporate espionage and document shredding; the Nakashes weathered an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service into Marciano-alleged tax evasion and customs quota fraud, and the Marcianos faced allegations of improper dealings with the IRS.

At one point, the Marcianos hired Israeli commandoes to patrol their offices; the Nakashes, for their part, hired security experts to sweep their offices for bugging devices. As one attorney involved in the case told Forbes: "This is not just war, this is total war.

Take no prisoners. There is not an issue that has not been filed. This is litigation at its worst. While much of its sales continued to be in jeans, Guess had successfully entered the women's market, with its upscale Georges Marciano label, as well as children's, leatherwear, and footwear.

Relaunching its menswear line in , Guess began to make inroads in that market as well, placing its products in men's departments of most major department stores. Meanwhile, Guess' chain of retail stores, renamed Guess and averaging 2, square feet, grew to 19 locations. The company also moved its Los Angeles operations to a acre site encompassing six buildings, where it manufactured 93 percent of its products. The legal battle between the Marcianos and the Nakashes finally ended in early , when a jury agreed with the Marcianos and returned percent control of Guess to them.

A second trial was set for May to determine damages. However, as the jury in that case was deliberating, the Marcianos announced that they had reached a settlement with the Nakashes for an undisclosed amount.

This development occurred over the objections of their attorney, who pushed them to continue the case to full victory. The Marcianos stated, however, that they feared seeing the case continue through the appeals process and still more years of litigation. But with the battle with Jordache over, the Marcianos set about expanding their business. The company also expanded its retail chain, to 33 stores by the end of , including its European flagship store in Florence, Italy.

While the recession of the early s slowed growth somewhat, to 7 percent in compared to double-digits throughout the s, Guess menswear took off, with a 41 percent sales growth in alone. By the end of that year, menswear accounted for just under 40 percent of company sales. International sales were also becoming more important to overall revenues.

Licensing arrangements brought Guess clothing to more than a dozen countries, with sales particularly strong in Canada and Japan.

In that year, Georges Marciano stepped down as the company's chairman, chief executive officer, and designer, citing differences of opinion with his brothers over the direction of the company.

The year before, Maurice Marciano had also left the company, but he returned shortly before Georges Marciano's departure. Maurice was named chairman and chief executive officer and took over direction of design; Paul Marciano remained president and chief operating officer, and Armand continued to act as senior executive vice-president. After leaving Guess, Georges Marciano sued Guess and his brothers for allegedly infringing on the Georges Marciano trademark. With Guess ads now featuring Maurice's name instead of Georges Marciano, Guess looked to its overhauled junior's line and international distribution, along with a stepped up promotional campaign, to fuel its further growth.

Licensing also continued to be an important source of revenue, with products now including home furnishings, infant wear, and junior knitwear. Meanwhile, Guess stores had also been growing, to an average of 3, square feet, and to 61 stores by the end of , including a 7, square-foot store in Hawaii's Ala Moana Center and an 8, square-foot store in the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois.

In less than fifteen years, the Guess label had grown from 30 pairs of jeans to a diversified, billion-dollar branded empire.