Statement on Paul Marciano and Guess
This week, a model filed a lawsuit alleging that Guess Inc. co-founder Paul Marciano made numerous unwanted sexual advances on her for years and raped her in February 2020. Guess has enabled this alleged abuse by allowing Marciano to keep his current role as Chief Creative Officer despite numerous, similar allegations against him that have been publicly reported for over a decade.
According to the model’s report, Marciano lured her under the pretense of advancing her modeling career, which indicates that his behavior may constitute sex trafficking. She claims that after she filed a complaint to the company’s HR Department, Guess, Marciano, and her modeling agency coordinated to silence her with promises of lucrative job prospects.
These abuses could have been prevented if there had been appropriate measures in place. Under the RESPECT Program, a program of the Model Alliance, models could have reported the alleged abuse to a neutral third-party rather than an internal HR Department. Further, Paul Marciano would have been removed from the company after an independent investigation of the first reported offense.
For too long, both fashion brands and modeling agencies have enabled serial abusers. It’s time to change this toxic norm in our industry.
Models are calling on Guess to join the RESPECT Program, which is based on a tested and proven approach known as worker-driven social responsibility. Worker-driven social responsibility programs in other industries have effectively eliminated sexual violence through a combination of independent monitoring and enforcement. We believe the fashion industry is next.
The only way for Guess to change the toxic culture of harassment and silence is for them to join the RESPECT Program immediately. It’s #Time4RESPECT.