LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 18, 2018-- GUESS, the global lifestyle brand famous for its iconic ad campaigns and trend setting denim, is proud to partner with The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), an organization that works with cotton farmers, helping them to use water efficiently and care for the environment, as well as promote higher standards of work, during cotton production.

Last year, GUESS published its FY16-17 Sustainability Report which includes the company’s first-ever sustainability plan and Denim Water Lifecycle Assessment of its denim category. Understanding that 64% of water use occurs during raw material production, namely for cotton, GUESS joined The Better Cotton Initiative to start to source ‘Better Cotton’ to help address its water use. GUESS will make public its official goals for sustainable cotton sourcing later this year.

By becoming a BCI Retailer and Brand Member, GUESS can commit to a more sustainable future for cotton production by investing in the Initiative which, last year, reached and trained 1.6 million cotton farmers on more sustainable agricultural practices, such as efficient use of inputs (water, pesticides), increasing yields, and addressing gender equality and child labor issues.

“At GUESS, we use cotton in many of our products,” says Victor Herrero, Chief Executive Officer of GUESS?, Inc. “It is important that we take the proper steps to source more sustainable cotton in the GUESS supply chain, which is why we have joined The Better Cotton Initiative. GUESS is excited to join BCI and the overall industry movement to improve the standards for global cotton production, and have that reflected in the cotton we source at GUESS.” -Victor Herrero

For more information and the latest updates on GUESS Sustainability, please visit http://sustainability.guess.com/.

About GUESS?, Inc.

Established in 1981, GUESS began as a jeans company and has since successfully grown into a global lifestyle brand. Guess?, Inc. designs, markets, distributes and licenses a lifestyle collection of contemporary apparel, denim, handbags, watches, footwear and other related consumer products. Guess? products are distributed through branded Guess? stores as well as better department and specialty stores around the world. As of February 3, 2018, the Company directly operated 1,011 retail stores in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The Company’s licensees and distributors operated 652 additional retail stores worldwide. As of February 3, 2018, the Company and its licensees and distributors operated in approximately 100 countries worldwide. For more information about the Company, please visit www.guess.com.

About the Better Cotton Initiative

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a global not-for-profit organisation, is the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world. Last year, together with our partners we provided training on more sustainable agricultural practices to 1.6 million farmers from 23 countries. We are truly a joint effort, encompassing organisations all the way from farms to fashion and textile brands, driving the cotton sector towards sustainability. Thanks to these efforts, Better Cotton accounts for around 15% of global cotton production. BCI aims to transform cotton production worldwide by developing Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity. By 2020, our goal is to train 5 million farmers worldwide on more sustainable agricultural practises, and account for 30% of global cotton production.

BetterCotton.org

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Source: GUESS?, Inc.

GUESS?, Inc.
Kaitlyn Quail
kquail@guess.com