Photo Courtesy of Paul Marciano: Chief Creative Officer for GUESS?, Inc.
Christian Bracht: How did GUESS come to make sustainability a central part of its corporate mission?
Paul Marciano: We launched our first sustainability plan in 2016; since then, sustainability at GUESS has continued to evolve; it became an integral part of the business and made substantial contributions to our collective success. Our sustainability work creates growth opportunities for our associates, our suppliers, our company and the communities we serve. With even more ambitious commitments and goals, VISION GUESS, our latest sustainability report, will map out our journey forward over the next decade. Our aim is to become a business and brand that integrates sustainability within our operations and value chain, promotes a culture of diversity and inclusion within our global workforce and supply chain, and creates fashion that contributes to a climate-positive, circular economy.
CB: What particular goals has GUESS established, and how do they link to industry best practices and the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
PM: With VISION GUESS we set ambitious goals that will drive our business throughout the decade. Focusing on our products, we are transitioning away from virgin polyester to recycled materials with the aim of achieving 100 percent recycled or biobased polyester by 2025 for mainline and by 2030 for all products, as well as continuing our commitment to circular fashion. Beyond that, we plan to expand our GuessECO collection: We now offer over 20 percent of our denim as GuessECO denim, and we set a target that by 2024, 75 percent of GUESS denim mainline will be GuessECO. In 2022, we got our carbon emissions goals approved by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), and we are striving to halve our Scope 1 and 2 emissions and reduce our Scope 3 emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
CB: What challenges did you face when implementing sustainability initiatives in the fashion industry?
PM: The fashion industry, and the denim industry in particular, is notorious for its high water usage, energy consumption and chemical pollution. In fact, it is one of the most environmentally damaging sectors in the fashion industry. That’s why being sustainable is a tough and complicated challenge. From a brand standpoint, the biggest challenge when it comes to making production more sustainable is, of course, the elevated cost of sourcing sustainable raw materials and implementing new technologies, which are more expensive today than they were in past years. This is a big challenge for every fashion brand, but nevertheless, we must act now to meet the expectations of this greener generation and create better practices for the future of the planet.
CB: How do you see the future of the fashion industry and what role does GUESS want to play in it?
PM: Since I founded GUESS with my brothers nearly four decades ago, we have worked hard to be a company that also makes positive contributions to our world. This community mindset is rooted in our core DNA, and it creates a sense of obligation to preserve our beautiful world – way beyond the mere visual beauty of our products and images. That is why we must take action now to make the world a better place and to ensure that it can prevail.
As featured in SLEEK 79 – MOTHER. Available in print and digital here.