2024-01-12 23:45:05
Translated by
Clementine Martin
Published on
Jan 10, 2024
This season, the American jeans brand took advantage of Pitti to present its new concept “Guess Airwash” in a giant immersive setting, entitled “The Next 40 Years of Denim”.
In the early 1980s, Guess practically invented the idea of bleaching denim (stone or acid). This is how this family business, in the hands of French owners, became the most popular fashion house in the United States.
But given the extravagant water consumption and environmental pollution caused by washing, the brand had to innovate. And the fruit of his research is a new technology called “Guess Airwash”, presented by Nicolai Marciano. The latter is the son of Paul, one of four French brothers who founded the brand in an abandoned 30 square meter fishmonger in the port of Bandol in 1973.
In addition to a stand at the Fortezza da Basso, the beating heart of Pitti, Guess has installed a huge off-site set at a new theater recently opened in Florence, the Teatro del Maggio.
In 1993, Guess Europe chose Florence to enter the continent with a first store in this historic city, emblematic of the Italian Renaissance. 30 years later, the brand returns to its journey with an immersive exhibition where visitors can notably observe old stonewash barrels, almost obsolete now, as well as the original three-zip Marilyn jeans sold for the first time at Bloomingdales in 1981 and the paneled denim jacket worn by Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future in 1985.
“We wanted to pay homage to the DNA of our company: the California lifestyle, denim and product innovation. 42 years ago, we disrupted the denim industry by popularizing stonewashing around the world. Four decades later, we are once again asserting ourselves as denim pioneers with our new washing process,” says Nicolai during the presentation of the exhibition.
The “Stone to Air” pop-up installation reveals the revolutionary Guess Airwash technology, of which the brand has exclusivity.
So what are its benefits? According to Guess, this new method does not use stones or chemicals. It reduces water consumption by 80% and saves energy. Traditionally used pumice stones are replaced by light and air.
Pre-collection Fall 2024 – Guess
On giant displays, the new jeans obtained have a very beautiful peach skin finish. For multi-brands or journalists, the brand also offers to decorate them using Jeanologia laser technology.
In the same space, some of Guess’s most legendary campaigns were displayed, showing legendary beauties like Valeria Mazza in front of the lens of Dewey Nicks, Claudia Schiffer immortalized by Ellen Von Unwerth and Anna Nicole Smith posing for Daniela Federici.
This vision of women, however, seems a little archaic at a time when feminism is becoming obvious. The brand will therefore carry out a clever repositioning with the launch of the new Guess Airwash jeans in June, a new policy which is already reflected in the huge panels showing emblematic images of the Californian lifestyle in the 1990s.
“We will renew the casting and imagery of the company, while remaining true to our essence,” confirms Nicolai, who started working at Guess at the age of 17, before even finishing high school.
Like many of its sisters, Guess suffered terribly from the pandemic, after being put to the test by the triumph of the internet over physical commerce, which had already led to the closure of many stores.
The 2,236 sales spaces that the brand had in 2014 seem a long way away today. But ten years later, it plans to launch a new point of sale concept focused on denim, which will be gradually rolled out. Guess still achieved sales up 4% for the year ended October 28, 2023, with $2.70 billion (2.46 billion euros) in revenue.
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