Founded in 1981, GUESS stands as a widely popular American clothing brand. Over the years, it has featured the most iconic faces of the industry, such as Naomi Campbell, Carla Bruni, and Claudia Schiffer. However, going beyond the brand’s popularity, we’re here to explore the question, “is GUESS fast fashion?”, delving into the retailer’s ethics, environmental stance, and supply chain practices.
Is GUESS Fast Fashion? Our Verdict
Yes, GUESS is an unethical fast fashion brand masquerading as sustainable. It uses synthetic blends that are impossible to recycle and lacks supply chain transparency. Despite setting climate goals, GUESS continues to pollute through plastic fabrics and jeopardizes consumer health.
A Misleading Price Point
Similar to brands like Aritzia or Urban Outfitters, GUESS lies at the intersection of luxury and affordable fashion. While not as inexpensive as low-range, ultra-fast-fashion brands, it still churns out large amounts of clothing at inflated prices. Here is the price range of Guess items:
- Basic tank tops: $15
- Elaborate evening dresses: $600
- Faux fur coats (synthetic polyester): $400–600
- Men’s jeans: $100–200
Naturally, a $400 faux fur coat from GUESS would never live up to the quality of a real fur or wool coat at the same price. The same applies to a $100 pair of jeans that lack the craftsmanship that vintage Levi’s would offer for less. This reliance on synthetic fabrics raises questions about the brand’s overall craftsmanship. Is the lower price point a trade-off for both quality and ethics?
Pricing of GUESS’s Most Popular Items, Handbags
GUESS’s handbags are available in a range of prices, reflecting different levels of quality:
- $400 for a genuine leather satchel
- $118 for a synthetic backpack
On the surface, GUESS seems to cater to all tastes, offering something for everyone. However, despite its broad appeal, the brand relies on high-volume, low-quality production that often doesn’t justify its premium prices.
In the end, consumers are paying more for the GUESS logo and brand appeal than for the actual materials, craftsmanship, or ethical production.
Fabric Composition at GUESS
As concerns around sustainability reached their peak during the COVID-19 pandemic, GUESS launched a sustainable fashion collection, GUESS Eco, in 2021. The Eco line claimed to incorporate organic cotton, recycled denim, and recycled polyester materials. However, taking a closer look, a perilous reality reveals itself.
⚠️ Behind the eco-facade, GUESS uses a myriad of virgin, synthetic materials alongside sustainable ones – in the form of fabric blends. When looking closely at fabric compositions, sustainable fabrics make up a very small percentage of the garment.
What exactly is the problem with this? Because the fabrics are mixed, it becomes extremely difficult — if not impossible — to separate them. As a result, these items end up in landfills.
Questions About Consumer Health
From GUESS’s sustainability report, we read that the brand is “making the move to use organic cotton.” But this move doesn’t significantly impact circularity or consumer health, especially considering the fabric blends used.
It’s an ecological heresy to merge organic cotton, one of the most sustainable fabrics out there, with toxic, synthetic fabrics, as this would still bombard consumers, garment workers, and ecosystems with toxins, microplastics, and heavy metals.
Therefore, GUESS’s use of sustainable materials comes off as a superficial effort to greenwash its consumers, as well as stakeholders, as it lacks a logical framework. The brand’s reliance on synthetic-natural blends fails to align with sustainability standards, as it jeopardizes consumer health while generating non-recyclable textile waste.
GUESS’s Questionable Sustainability Trajectory
On its sustainability page, GUESS pledges to make 30% of its global materials portfolio more sustainable by 2024. By an unspecified date, the brand promises that 50% of all GUESS mainline collections will be comprised of GUESS Eco, featuring “eco-conscious clothing.”
By the same token, GUESS aims to replace 75% of its denim apparel collections with GUESS Eco – with another unspecified date for the goal.
So, is GUESS all talk and very little action?
We have already witnessed the flawed nature of the brand’s Eco line initiative, as it introduced non-recyclable synthetic fabric blends. Will this change in the future?
Whether or not the brand will alter its trajectory is a matter of speculation. However, when it comes to its sustainability agenda, GUESS has taken important steps towards defining its vision.
GUESS’s 2030 Sustainability Vision
In its report titled “Our Best Today, Better Tomorrow”, GUESS breaks down three aspects of its sustainability vision: environmental protection, community empowerment, and low-impact operations. Below, we will outline each and every one of these aspects to give you a better understanding of the brand’s trajectory:
1. Operations: Reducing Emissions
With its greenhouse gas emission reduction plan, GUESS does its part in reducing the industry’s emissions to keep global warming below 1.5C. That is, it joins the Paris Agreement objectives.
The roadmap towards net-zero operations is here – GUESS has obtained approval from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) on its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The brand has set the following goals for the future:
- Reducing absolute GHG emissions by 50% across Scope 1 and 2
- Reducing absolute GHG emissions by 30% in Scope 3 vs baseline FY2019 (Category 1 – purchased goods and services)
However, it’s important to note that the brand merely set its climate targets, which were approved as credible and ambitious by the SBTi. However, these targets are not legally binding. That is, the retailer can override the guidelines, tailoring them to its own business objectives in the future.
What’s more, the SBTi group has faced criticism for charging retailers a fee for accreditation (possibly indicating its commercial motives), as well as for not having a large validating team.
Ultimately, the group’s responsibility is to deem a particular brand’s sustainability plans as sufficient, however, sometimes, it may fulfill this responsibility in a lenient manner. Some experts condemn the SBTi group for giving retailers a free hand to modify and set their targets, validating them with questionable tools.
2. Environment: Partially Sustainable Materials
GUESS has set a goal to use “environmentally preferred” textiles in 20% of its apparel — a step in a greener direction. However, the vague terminology and seemingly half-hearted implementation raise questions about the brand’s true commitment to sustainability.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ TENCEL™ Lyocell – A Sustainable Fabric
This material is one of the more promising fibers. It’s made from responsibly sourced eucalyptus, beech, or spruce trees and produced in a closed-loop system that significantly reduces water usage and emissions.
TENCEL is breathable, biodegradable, and incorporates REFIBRA™ technology, which upcycles pre- and post-consumer cotton scraps into new fabric — giving textile waste a second life. Compared to conventional cellulosics like viscose or modal, TENCEL stands out for its lower environmental impact and innovative, circular production process.
⭐⭐ ECOVERO™ – A Partially-Sustainable Fabric
On the surface, ECOVERO appears to be a step up from traditional viscose. It also uses a closed-loop process and boasts a reduced environmental footprint. However, it comes with caveats.
The production relies on synthetic chemicals like sulfuric acid, caustic soda, and sodium hydroxide — substances that can pose health risks to both wearers and garment workers. While these chemicals are recycled back into the process, their use raises concerns about overall safety and long-term sustainability, especially when compared to alternatives like TENCEL that rely on more low-impact methods.
In short, while GUESS is moving in the right direction by incorporating better materials, the inconsistent standards and reliance on partially sustainable options like ECOVERO suggest there’s still a long way to go in achieving truly eco-conscious production.
3. Community: Initiatives Around Social Causes
GUESS’s commitment to community empowerment encompasses diversity, inclusivity, and mental health awareness. Among its 2025 goals, the brand pledges to do the following:
- Partner up with key suppliers to provide training opportunities for female employees
- Uphold gender pay parity across all geographical regions
- Embed diversity, inclusivity, and connectedness in its corporate culture, providing equitable opportunities for career growth
- Require mandatory management training for sexual harassment prevention in the workplace
These objectives focus predominantly on the brand’s community initiatives in the Global North, which sparks our curiosity about the brand’s plans for the Global South – that is, the most disadvantaged checkpoint in the fashion supply chain.
🌐 Where’s the Global South in All This?
When it comes to ethical labor, GUESS makes little to no commitment to bettering worker conditions overseas. The brand presents its supply chain assessments as a “tick-box” activity, curating an appearance of ethical sourcing in the absence of rigorous auditing processes.
The only objective that the brand outlines is joining associations for social compliance — namely, the Bangladesh Accord and Better Work — to ensure satisfactory worker safety. As a goal for 2025, this commitment is just one piece of the puzzle, as it doesn’t address modern slavery. Rather, it upholds the baseline standards in its supply chain, such as health and safety of workers.
⚠️ GUESS Greenwashes Through Recycled Polyester
GUESS is playing the sustainability game with recycled polyester, all while pretending it’s saving the planet. Spoiler: it’s not.
Like H&M, ASOS, and even SHEIN (yes, SHEIN), GUESS swaps out virgin polyester for its so-called “eco” twin and calls it a win for the environment. But recycled polyester? It’s just the same toxic trash dressed in a green hoodie.
The Truth Behind r-Polyester
Let’s get real: recycled polyester isn’t some magical fix. It’s just greenwashing, which becomes evident when comparing regular polyester vs recycled polyester. It’s made from post-consumer plastic bottles, loaded with bleach, antimony trioxide, and BPA. That’s right—GUESS is marketing a toxic material as green, while poisoning consumers and polluting the planet.
And here’s the kicker: those plastic bottles were meant for the beverage industry’s own circular systems. Fashion brands are hijacking recyclables, disrupting a system that actually works, just to keep churning out more synthetic fast fashion under a “sustainable” label.
If GUESS were serious about sustainability, it wouldn’t be pushing plastic in any form, virgin or recycled. It would ditch polyester altogether and switch to truly circular materials like organic, biodegradable fabrics.
Recycled polyester isn’t progress — it’s a greenwashed excuse to maintain business as usual. And consumers? We’re not falling for it.
Our Verdict: Transparency Doesn’t Equal Action
GUESS needs to walk the walk, apart from outlining its future goals. As a historical polluter, transparency measures fall short of real-life change, therefore, the brand’s current efforts to define its goals come off as superficial.
Based on its sustainability report, the brand overstates its climate progress, which becomes evident in its persistent reliance on synthetic fabrics, not to mention the dubious nature of its supply chain.
GUESS’s Fashion Transparency Index Score: 31-40%
Although GUESS has improved its transparency score on the Fashion Transparency Index over the past three years, ethical fashion still remains out of its reach.
The brand has shifted from the dismal 10-20% range in 2021 to a moderate 31-40% in 2023. And while this is above the industry average (26% for major retailers), it still fails to break 50%, meaning the brand is still hiding many details about its labor and sustainability practices behind the curtain.
In-Store Recycling Program: Circularity or Clever Sales Hook?
GUESS has partnered with Social Enterprise Homeboy Industries in the U.S. and Debrand Services in Canada for a seemingly “circular” fashion initiative. The collaboration has spawned an in-store recycling program, where customers can bring in unwanted clothing items from their wardrobe, and in return, receive a meager 15% discount on new purchases.
This marginal incentive does little to extend the lifestyle of GUESS products, curb overconsumption, or reduce waste. Instead, it promotes guilt-free shopping, rather than mindful consumption. Therefore, based on its underlying concept, the recycling program serves as a promotional strategy, rather than a circularity initiative.
🔍 Let’s Put Things Into Perspective
Compare this with Patagonia’s Worn Wear initiative, which doesn’t just accept old items — it repairs, resells, and rewards customers for keeping their clothing in circulation. Or look at Thousand Fell, a brand that’s built an entirely circular system from the ground up — allowing customers to return used shoes and have them composted or fully recycled.
These are not marketing tactics. They’re structural shifts toward sustainability.
GUESS, by contrast, offers a minimal discount while doing little to change its harmful practices.
Is GUESS Fast Fashion? Final Thoughts
So, is GUESS really as “green” and ethical as it wants us to believe? The short answer is no. While the brand has made some baby steps with recycled fabrics and supply chain collaborations, it’s still got a long way to go before it can call itself sustainable. The brand’s use of synthetic blends, as well as its in-store recycling program, are deceptive: a way to cash in on the sustainability trend while churning out cheap, unrecyclable clothes.
Frequently Asked Questions
GUESS leans heavily on marketing to paint a green image. While its GUESS Eco line sounds promising, the actual fabric blends undermine recyclability. Sustainability is used more as a branding tool than a deeply embedded value.
Because it’s misleading. Recycled polyester sounds eco-friendly but still sheds microplastics, contains toxic chemicals, and disrupts bottle-to-bottle recycling systems. It’s a convenient way for brands like GUESS to appear sustainable without addressing the root issue: overproduction and reliance on synthetic materials.
Not exactly. GUESS focuses most of its social initiatives in the Global North, offering minimal transparency about worker conditions in factories overseas. It meets only the bare minimum standards, doing little to address deeper issues like modern slavery or fair wages.
It defeats the purpose. Mixing natural and synthetic fibers makes garments hard to recycle and compromises health benefits. Organic cotton may sound impressive, but when blended with toxic polyester, it ends up polluting landfills and harming the skin.
Rarely. While the brand markets itself as premium, most items are made from synthetic fabrics that lack durability. You’re often paying more for branding and aesthetics than for craftsmanship or ethical sourcing.
GUESS outlines climate targets, gender equality goals, and better materials. But many commitments are vague, delayed, or non-binding. Without clear deadlines and third-party accountability, its sustainability roadmap remains more of a PR tool than a real action plan.
Not really. While some use genuine leather, many rely on synthetic alternatives with inflated prices. A $400 faux leather bag from GUESS often prioritizes looks over quality, making the cost hard to justify from both ethical and durability standpoints.
GUESS scores 31–40% on the Fashion Transparency Index—better than some but still lacking. This means key information about supply chains, factory audits, and worker rights remains undisclosed, raising doubts about the brand’s commitment to accountability.
