Nicolai Marciano was born in the mid-nineties of the last century, when Guess, the firm founded in Los Angeles by his father and uncle, was living its golden age in the United States thanks to the sale of jeans and casual clothes and entered the European market. Last Tuesday, in Florence, within the framework of Pitti Uomo – the 105th edition of the most important fair in the men's fashion sector – the young executive hosted a powerful exhibition at the Teatro del Maggio Fiorentino that shows his most ambitious project to date: the relaunch of Guess Jeans, The house's line of jeans, in a sustainable key. "It's one thing to create a new brand, and quite another to rewrite the DNA of a firm with 42 years of history, which is present in 100 countries and has 1,500 stores," he explains during the conversation with EL PAÍS. "It's been a challenge, but I've been studying the brand for almost 10 years and we've come to the right time," says the current creative director of Guess Jeans.
The key to this launch is the garment that gives it its name: jeans. They were the key to the brand's take-off in 1981, when the Marciano brothers, of French origin, launched their first models, which incorporated zippers at the ankles to show off a more fitted silhouette. An empire had been born, and soon after they introduced to the market a variation that until then was a handmade rarity: the stonewashed trousers. To obtain it, each garment was fed into laundry machines that, based on friction and hours of washing with pumice stone and chemicals, wore down the rigid cotton canvas and made it easier to wear. It was a very expensive process, especially because of its cost to the environment.
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Hence the relevance of Marciano's new project, which recovers this aspect through a technology patented by the Spanish company Jeanologia, and of which Guess has the exclusive right for the next few years. This new process saves up to 80% of the water used in traditional washes through a method called Guess Airwash that uses small air bubbles to carry out the wear, and laser systems to achieve the different shades and wear of the jeans.
The Guess Airwash method uses small air bubbles to wear the jeans, and a laser system allows for the different shades and wear of the garment. In the picture, the firm's exhibition at the Teatro del Maggio Fiorentino.matteo scazzosi
"We have the capacity and responsibility to work sustainably. I don't believe in sustainability as a marketing tool, but as a reality. It wouldn't make sense to just do some jeans with Guess Airwash, because we want a real impact," says Marciano. This is how he explains the scope of this innovation: "It's a digital technology, it's not analogue, so any factory that wants to use it must have this type of equipment. But I think it's only logical that this move by Guess Airwash will have a ripple effect and become a trend across the industry. We believe this should be the new way to produce denim around the world. Forty-five years ago, Guess led the stonewashing process and innovation, and four decades later we're bringing back to market with something we believe is coming full circle to the future."
Nicolai Marciano, at the presentation 'The Next 40 Years Of Denim', organized by Guess Jeans at Pitti Uomo, in Florence, on January 9th. Stefania M. D'Alessandro (Getty Images)
Beyond jeans, available in various cuts and finishes, the new line proposes a wardrobe inspired by laid-back American classics, with knitwear that aspires to conquer the male public. Nicolai Marciano, also in charge of new business development at Guess, has grown up in the heart of the brand founded by his family. Today he is 27 years old, but he joined the company as an intern at 17, when he had just finished high school, and trained in different departments of the company before focusing on jeans. In theory, she knows the company better than anyone, but she confesses to being surprised to dig into its archives and discover that, before being a global fashion company with a mainly female clientele, Guess had been a casual wear phenomenon with American roots, a brand that had dressed several generations of young people. "We started as a denim brand from California, and today I would say that we are perceived more as a European lifestyle brand," says the entrepreneur. "What we did in the <>s and <>s is a chapter that is virtually absent from the brand today. For me, and also for Paul [Marciano, his father, co-founder of the brand] it's not so much a business decision as a personal one, not forgetting the roots."
With the Guess Airwash method, up to 80% of the water used in traditional jeans washes is saved.
In fact, this concern was already present in the first project led by Nicolai Marciano. In 2016, his collaboration with rapper A$AP Rocky, part of the Guess Originals line, began this recovery of a few decades forgotten in the imagination of the house. "Rocky had grown up in Harlem, surrounded by Guess, and had a very personal relationship with the brand. The young people understood this and were surprised to discover that facet of the brand, that youthful, fun-filled energy. It was the first creative project I brought to the firm and it was a great case study." In the first Guess Jeans collection, that energy – "American classics are now on everyone's inspiration panel," explains Marciano – is transferred to other garments that recover and reinterpret labels, zippers, details and designs from the archives.
Presentation of the new Guess Jeans line at the Pitti Uomo fair in Florence.matteo scazzosi
The fact that the presentation of the new line took place in Florence is doubly significant. It was in the Tuscan city that Guess began its arrival in Europe in 1993. "For me, it's like my second home. I lived here for a while when I worked in the Italian office of Guess at the age of 19," explains the American. "Today, almost 65% of our business is in Europe, so Florence is fundamental for us. In addition, presenting this new line at Pitti Uomo is relevant because it is a fair that is very focused on the product, and this project is about ideas, innovation, production".