The Guess brand has been known for all things denim since the early 80s, when four brothers from the south of France landed in Los Angeles and created their blue denim label.
Over the next 50 years, the company grew into a $2.6 billion publicly traded enterprise, with the Marciano family still a major shareholder and several members continuing as part of the operation. Now, the next generation is making its mark in the fashion industry.
Emma Marciano, whose father is Guess co-founder Maurice Marciano, a former CEO and current board member, is designing a new independently owned and operated label called Mimchik, which is not affiliated with the label Guess. Launched in October with the help of her business partner Mia Kazovsky.
The two joined forces earlier this year after meeting through Emma’s older sister Olivia. “Olivia and Mia were best friends in eighth grade and drifted apart for a while,” recalls Emma Marciano.
When Kazovsky met Olivia, she revealed that she was starting her own brand after leaving her previous label, Dooz. Marciano was also looking to start her own label. Olivia introduced them both and they hit it off immediately.
Marciano, 24, who studied at New York University and did a one-year internship at Guess, had tons of ideas, but she felt overwhelmed by being overshadowed by Guess’ grandeur. “There were definitely some big shoes to fill,” she noted.
A shaped ball from Mimchik. Photo: Mimchik and Amalie Gassman.
Kazovsky, 30, who has a bachelor’s from Pratt Institute, co-founded an astrology-oriented clothing, bag and accessories company in 2018 called Dooz, but she left last year to branch out on her own. “I moved from New York to Los Angeles and felt like I needed a fresh start,” Kazovsky said. “I started to pursue something else, but it was difficult to do it on my own… Emma and I made it, and since then, the two of us have been inseparable.”
The idea behind Mimchik, which will initially be sold online, is to create something different for the girl who has completely run out of different things to wear. “It’s for someone who doesn’t want to wear the tight black dress anymore and wants something very outside the box,” Marciano said.
The job tag for their client is “hot conscientious girl”. It’s about the girl in her 20s or 30s who likes to have fun and wear a variety of well-made clothes that aren’t fads. “It’s a lot of somebody who’s willing to pay a little more for something that’s going to last forever,” Kazovsky said. Price points will range from $120 for a jacket to $800 for a jacket.
The two creators, who are self-funding their project, are creating models produced in Los Angeles in small batches made mostly from eco-friendly fabrics, dead material or recycled material to reduce waste. “We’re a fashion brand coming into this big world and we don’t want to add more waste and keep cluttering up our earth,” Marciano said.
Their first collection consists of about 12 styles, including a dress, two skirts, two pants, a top that comes in several colors, and jackets. “Our clothes are playing with the men’s suit and taking the formality out of it, making it playful, quirky, fun and sexy,” said Marciano.
There will be no oversized jackets in men’s style paired with a miniskirt. “It’s our visual language, playing with proportion,” Kazovsky said.
One of the challenges of brand development is finding the right fabric and then hoping it doesn’t go out of stock. Another challenge has been taking samples from the sewing factory and finding that they do not meet their expectations and need to be redone.
Zakovsky brings to the new label her technical skills learned from launching Dooz with Rachel Borghard, who remains with the company.
And Marciano has tons of product ideas. “I live and breathe clothes,” she said. “This is just the only thing that actually brings so much joy and makes my heart beat super fast. “I come to Mia with all these ideas and she is able to bring them to life,” she said.
Marciano is also sharing her ideas with her father, Maurice, even though he is still recovering from a bike accident he had two years ago in Napa Valley, California. “He’s not able to talk,” Marciano said, “but I tell him. What I’m doing excites him and shows him that I’m able to do it myself.”
