GUESS, a global lifestyle fashion brand, has released “VISION GUESS” – its fourth sustainability report covering fiscal years 2020 and 2021, written following the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainable Accounting Standard Board (SASB) standards. The publication of VISION GUESS is a milestone achievement for the company, marking its successful completion of a reasonable assurance engagement with “Big 4” Accounting Firm KPMG to examine the metrics and disclosures in its sustainability report. The sustainability report shares the company’s significant progress on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) topics since its first sustainability plan was announced in 2016, and outlines its vision for sustainability going forward.
The report covers the three pillars of the GUESS sustainability plan; operating with integrity, empowering people, and protecting the environment. The company details its significant achievements since its first sustainability targets were announced, increasing its eco SMART GUESS denim product offerings by 18%; increasing its global, certified sustainable materials across brands; and achieving gender pay parity for both its U.S. Corporate headquarters and U.S. Retail operations. The report also highlights the company’s new “GUESS Sustainability Assurance Framework” – a robust process to collect, review and test sustainability data to ensure the consistency and comparability of nearly 100 ESG-related metrics, before sending to its external assurance provider.
“At Guess, we remain highly committed to our three main goals of our sustainability strategy: 1. Operating with Integrity, 2. Empowering our People, and 3. Protecting the Environment. Our report this year, VISION GUESS, highlights our higher standards and our expanded ESG strategy for the future. We are treating ESG reporting with a rigor typically reserved for financial reporting and we are focused on developing the right system, testing, and controls to ensure proper comparability, consistency, and accountability. In this year’s report, we included important topics related to the environment, diversity, and inclusion. In our Company, every decision we make and action we take, are with the long term in mind,” says Carlos Alberini, Chief Executive Officer for GUESS?, Inc.
Sustainability targets announced in the company’s new VISION GUESS plan include replacing virgin polyester with recycled materials, increasing sustainable denim offerings to 75% within three years, reducing corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, and supply chain emissions by 30% by 2030. GUESS’s ambitious greenhouse gas targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative, an industry group of over 1,000 businesses leading the way to a zero-carbon economy.