The Marciano Brothers

Fashion Designers The Marciano brothers grew up in the South of France, a region which cultivated passionate understanding of French design and the essence of style. Inspired by an appreciation of the American West, the Marcianos combined their European sensibilities with a love of classic American tradition and created GUESS? Inc.

Buyers thought denim was finished, but in the minds of the Marciano brothers, instinct stood above reason. The 3-zip Marilyn jean was sexy -- a jean for those who wanted to make a statement and express their individual style and attitude. After much resistance, Bloomingdale's agreed to sell some two dozen pair of the Marilyn 3-zip jean as a favor to the Marciano brothers -- within hours, the entire stock sold out.

The GUESS? label was born in 1981 and would become one of today's most recognized and influential brand names. With a broad range of apparel and accessories for men, women and children as well as the home, the GUESS? collections fully enhance the essential quality of one's lifestyle.

Guess was founded by Georges, Armand, Paul, and Maurice Marciano , four brothers raised in Marseilles, France. They moved to California from France in 1977 and founded the company in 1981. GUESS? quickly infiltrated 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. Models such as Claudia Schiffer, Carrè Otis, Eva Herzigova, Laetitia Casta, Carla Bruni, and Naomi Campbell launched their careers in the original GUESS?

GUESS?, Inc. has developed into a global lifestyle brand. While jeans remain the foundation of the company's history and success, GUESS? designs, markets and distributes its full collections of women's and men's apparel throughout the United States and Canada. The company has successfully granted licenses for the manufacture and distribution of many of its product categories, including kids & baby apparel, watches, footwear, belts, fragrance, jewelry, swimwear, handbags, small leather goods, eyewear, and leather apparel. GUESS? has licensees and distributors in Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Maurice Marciano, Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, is truly the driving force behind the company's spirit and commitment to superior quality. Maurice has overseen the company's design direction and growth from $6 million in sales in 1982 to some $600 million in 1996.

Paul Marciano, Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, is acclaimed for defining and communicating GUESS? 's global image to the masses. Since 1982, Paul has successfully captured a message that is real, provocative, sensual and young. In addition to creating some of the most ground-breaking imagery in the history of advertising, he has introduced several famous faces and names to the fashion forefront including Carre' Otis, Claudia Schiffer, Laetitia Casta, Ellen Von Unwerth, Wayne Maser and many more.

Paul Marciano does not simply stop at advertising. His "hands on" involvement prevails throughout the Company. Paul has led GUESS? through international and licensing expansion and spearheaded commerce on http://www.guess.com/.

Armand Marciano, Senior Executive Vice President, is responsible for directing GUESS?'s successful and thriving retail and outlet store operations. In addition, Armand oversees real estate and construction development, manufacturing, distribution and customer service activities. Plans for the company's future include expanding the current global retail operation.

Georges Marciano, co-founder of GUESS?, is credited with naming the company and directing the original clothing line. Georges started his career in fashion designing men's silk neckties and relying on his three brothers to manufacture and market them. Georges' keen eye for fashion and limitless ideas combined with Maurice's business skills, Armand's retail knowledge and Paul's visual strength helped make GUESS? the powerhouse it is today. Georges left GUESS? in August of 1993, but he remains a vital part of the company's history.

Prada - Past to Present changes

Prada is a very well known brand today, however it roots back to the early 1900's. In 1913 in Milan, Italy the very first retail line with the name "Prada" was founded. It was a small manufacturer of leather goods that was better known as Fratelli Prada.  The founder of this retail store was Mario Prada, however the recent success and fame for this line was due to the work of his granddaughter Miuccia Prada.

Formally known as Maria Bianchi Prada, she began her education by earning a PhD in political science. She has taken many questionable routes after pursuing a degree in political science, she was then enrolled and studied at a school Teatro Piccolo. This was a place where she spent five years learning and  studying mime.

Finally, after many years, Miuccia Prada inherited the family leather business, and due to her drive and motivation she was able to change Prada from a prominent leather goods manufacturer into a must have international brand. Her background and her decisions to choose routes that were uncommon at the time affected the family business in many ways. It was her love for odd colors and exotic designs that got the line to where it is today. Miuccia Prada alone is responsible for the creative decisions that are made for the line, and she states they are simply figments of her imagination. The designs are actually based off of her intuition, and the final product may be changed again and again until it matches the original image in her mind.

From an artistic point of view, Miuccia Prada chose colors that are very dark tones, and in design they are simple cuts and display generally simple designs. She made it a point to avoid loud or bright stand out colors. Her main motive while making decisions was to break away from the very stand out displayed clothes of the eighties. Back in the eighties luxury and rich people displayed their wealth by wearing clothes that were somewhat exotic and very out of the ordinary. The wealthy people of the eighties made it a point to wear clothing that was very different from the one worn by the middle class people. Prada wanted to step away from that mentality and create clothing that was luxurious without the exotic display. Prada wanted her clothing to be comfortable however still pure and graceful. The luxury of the item was to only be known by the one wearing it.

The designs itself were very 

Zac Posen - An American Designer

Zac Posen is an American born fashion designer. He was raised in a neighborhood in lower Manhattan New York. He is the son of the artist Stephen Posen and his mother was a corporate lawyer Susan Posen. Unlike many others, Posen’s interest in fashion design started early, and as a child he was said to steal yarmulkes from his grandparents' synagogue to make ball dresses for dolls. While he was a child he was a little insecure with his interest in fashion, despite his parent’s constant support. His different taste was a product of his childhood, as he used to search for very unusual materials like seaweed to try and create new outfits for his puppets.

He attended Saint Ann's School which is actually a private school in Brooklyn, New York. While in high school he was able to create the costumes that were worn in plays performed by his classmates. By his sophomore year in Saint Ann's he was able to become an intern with fashion designer Nicole Miller. During his high school career he was also able to enroll in the pre-college program at Parsons the New School for Design. Thus, he was able to have much experience with the fashion industry upfront before he even graduated high school. This helped his success in the fashion industry in many ways because it allowed him to see how the whole process works and he was able to watch successful designers do their work. And using their mistakes and successes he was able to learn about what would be good for him. He graduated from Saint Ann's in 1999. Afterwards, he as mentored by curator Richard Martin at The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for about 3 years.

Zac Posen was a very intelligent person, he excelled in mathematics. He was also accepted into Brown University, however he decided against going there. At 18, he was accepted into London’s Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design at the University of the Arts London. When he went for his entrance interview, Posen had decided that to try and impress the lady that would be interviewing him he would have ivy trailing from his hair. He had done just that and was accepted into a highly regarded school for arts. While Posen was in London, he learned that there were many people that were attempting to try their luck in fashion. The overall environment was very competitive. The students were able to learn on their own and create gowns from concepts that motivated them. During this time Zac Posen created a gown using only thin leather strips and dress-maker hooks. For this dress was made to try and represent powerful thoughts about women. The gown was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Zac Posen was more widely recognized when chosen to present a capsule collection as part of GenArt's Fresh Faces in Fashion New York 2001. Thru this he was able to receive a grant for $20,000. Just after his first runway show in 2001, Posen was sought after by many top fashion agencies including LVMH, Christian Dior, and Gucci. After the success of his first runway show, he was the recipient for many awards and soon went on to become the favorite for many Hollywood stars including Natalie Portman, Rihanna, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Lopez, Mischa Barton, Beyonce Knowles and many others. He also had many students such as Ashley Olsen intern with him.

Today he designs ready-to-wear clothing as well as accessories and has considered expanding into a men’s collection. Zac Posen has said to have no inspiration; he says that “I don't have a formula, except that I don't believe in playing it safe."