Who the hell is buying Guess these days????

I was just reading a post on the decline of Guess and it got me thinking. The writer (I didn't note the name sorry) mentioned that Guess is just one of a line of brands that hit their stride in the 00s. Sex sold and Guess rolled out advert after advert with these bleach blonde sexy women.

The typical body type of larger boobs and small waist, long hair, mouth open, glazed expression in the eyes and usually bent into an uncomfortable looking position. This 'sex sells' thing has been done by so many companies such as  Abercrombie and Fitch, American Apparel....but while sexy selling has been done by other brands (Tom Ford's Gucci pubic hair advert anyone?) it has also been recognised as 'over' by other brands. There are few brands still pulling this sex sells crap.

I've always found Guess to be tacky. The selling style doesn't work or appeal to me. I find it awkward and uncomfortable. I don't think I'm the only one as all of the above stated brands are experiencing financial difficulties and posting losses. Abercrombie and Fitch are ditching the half naked models and panicking about a complete rebrand. It's not just the overly sexy brands either - it seems the preppy American brands are freaking out as well. People just don't want either.

However Guess is a tricky one. I'm not their target audience and this means I'm incapable of knowing if the company is making bad choices or not because all of their stuff looks like bad choices to me. I just see their adverts and think, ew.

I don't know why people are sick of the sexy thing. If you look at the reaction to Miley Virus as well, most people are sick of seeing it and complaining. We've had enough of being bombarded with sex sells and nudity - apparently. This is being echoed through our sales. American Apparel knows this one well.

It is a hard time for retail in general and a lot of brands have collapsed since the start of the recession in 2008. I think customers don't shop like they used to. In fact, I know customers don't shop like they used to. I've worked in retail the whole time that its happened - before, during and after. It'll be interesting to see how it continues.