Both Gucci and Guess are considered luxury brands, but which is more expensive?
Gucci is substantially more expensive and valuable than Guess, which ranks some levels below on the ‘luxury scale’. In terms of revenue, Gucci also dwarves Guess, making several billion dollars more per year.
Read on to learn more about Gucci, Guess, and the battle of the fashion brands.
Guess What?
When it comes to fashion, Guess certainly isn’t at the top of the game. It’s a relatively young company, having only been founded in the early eighties, and it doesn’t have a remarkable value.
As a brand, it maintains a popular customer base and draws in around two billion dollars of revenue a year. Whilst it’s not the top tier of luxury fashion, it is more exclusive than mass-produced, readily available brands like GAP, Superdry, or Uniqlo.
However, the individual items Guess manufacturers aren’t all that expensive when compared to lofty brands like Prada, Gucci, and Armani. They’re more costly than the average product, but the quality is finer, and the items themselves are a little more scarce.
It’s difficult to give an exact example, but you can probably pick up a Guess messenger bag brand new for around one hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars. The same style of bag from Gucci would set you back anything up to and beyond one thousand dollars.
Of course, it’s difficult to compare the two on an even keel when they’re inherently quite different from one another. They market their products to differing audiences, have dramatically different designs, and even different business models.
For example, Gucci doesn’t tend to offer any discounts or sales on their products but Guess actively participates in discount events. As brands, both offer very similar ranges, but Gucci tends to be a little more ‘out there’ in their designs.
Although Guess has a similar store count and employee number, they generate a considerably lower amount of revenue than Gucci. In 2018, Guess made around two and a half-billion dollars, while Gucci made close to ten billion dollars.
It’s Gucci
There’s a reason Gucci is a brand known by many people, even those who don’t care about fashion. It’s prolific, exclusive, luxurious, and has a vibrant and lengthy history.
The brand itself was founded a century ago in Italy and rapidly went on to dominate the fashion industry. It’s one of the biggest names in fashion in many respects – revenue, employee base, locations, and range.
On the scale of luxury, Gucci is considered an ‘Aspirational’ brand, two steps above Guess, which is a ‘Premium’ brand. Gucci is joined by names like Prada and Dolce Gabbana, who offer similarly exclusive and expensive products.
Gucci’s progressive and adventurous designs often run up enormous price tags, something that Guess seems to actively avoid. If you peruse Gucci’s website, you’ll find coats, shoes, and bags that regularly climb into the thousands of dollars.
In fact, even the simplest of Gucci items can come with an extremely high price tag, owing mainly to the brand being promoted so often by the world’s elite. Something as basic as a belt can cost as much as three or four hundred dollars.
The Cost Of Fashion
There are few industries in the world as competitive and adventurous as the fashion industry. Countless brands compete against one another to create the next best thing that will be seen on red carpets and catwalks all around the globe.
At the very top of the scale sit brands like Chanel, Dior, and Versace, who offer some products that only the world’s super-rich can regularly afford. In some cases, Gucci also sits at the top of the table, releasing limited edition products that are dizzyingly expensive.
For example, back in 2009, Gucci released a diamond-studded belt that sold for around a quarter of a million dollars. It’s one of the best examples of super-expensive clothing, but it’s also a rare example.
Ultimately, as long as people entertain Gucci by buying their products, they’ll remain just as expensive as they ever have. It’s this exclusive fan base that ensures Gucci’s value remains high, as fashionistas the world over can’t resist a new Gucci product hitting the market.
Although Gucci uses the finest methods and materials in the manufacture of their products, it’s the marketing and promotion that brings in the big bucks. It’s because of these reasons that the average person simply won’t be able to rock a Gucci bag any time soon.
But hey, there’s always Guess.