Trend: Guess Jeans and Kaporal usher in the revival of jeans at Who's Next

The January 2025 edition of the Parisian ready-to-wear show Who's Next, which has just closed its doors, has highlighted a new trend for autumn/winter 2025/2026, or rather the revival of an iconic item of women's, men's and unisex wardrobes: denim clothing, ushered in by specialists in the category like Guess Jeans, Kaporal, Wranger and Lee.

Guess what? In a country ruled by a climate skeptic, green jeans are the successor to blue jeans

Who doesn't know Guess? The aesthetic of its long-haired muses has stood the test of time. Well, today, ecology is the new face of this brand that is emblematic of American success and a US ideal (which, admittedly, is questionable at a time when tech billionaires are moving to the far right).

In the "Brut Icon" space, at the centre of the show, Guess unveiled the Guess Jeans collection. Interestingly, in place of models, Guess sought to showcase its technology. And US technology means ecology, a paradox in a country led by a climate skeptic. With organic cotton and ozone washing (a machine for which was on display on the stand), the marketing is in place to make blue jeans, 'green' jeans.

Designed by Nicolai Marciano, the son of Paul, founder of Guess, the production of this collection moves between Turkey, India and China, which allows an attractive pricing model: around 89 euros for a green jean. A strategy to open its own stores is not on the agenda, hence the unprecedented presence of this brand at the Who's Next trade fair, in search of future distribution partners.

To support wholesale, Jean-Baptiste Bessone, ready-to-wear sales representative for Guess France, has a Parisian showroom (rue Bachaumont, Paris 2ᵉ) and a sales agent for the south of France. His visibility is reinforced by two department store corners (Galeries Lafayette Haussmann and Printemps Haussmann) and a pop-up in Galeries Lafayette Champs-Elysées.

When employees take over a business, it can work, Kaporal proves

Before discusing the new Kaporal collection, it is worth taking a quick look at the history of this Marseille brand. Founded in 2003 by Laurent Emsellem, Kaporal has evolved from a denim supplier to a lifestyle brand. In 2013, the investment fund TowerBrook Capital Partners acquired a majority stake and began an intensive distribution policy. This, however, was shortlived, as the Covid crisis and the lockdown soon came along.

Result? The company, which had a turnover of 120 million euros, owned 90 stores of its own, ten franchises and around 500 resellers, collapsed. The investor withdrew and Kaporal was placed in receivership. That's when, thanks to the magic of the collective, two employees decided to make an offer to take over the business: Nicolas Ciccione and Thierry Bongiovanni. Deal accepted.

They appointed Thierry Pérusat as president of Kaporal in July 2023, and business took off again. Today, the brand has its models manufactured in Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey, resulting in retail prices between 89 and 129 euros. According to figures communicated to FashionUnited on site, it records a turnover of around 50 million euros, has 50 own boutiques, ten franchises and between 350 and 400 French resellers.

Kaporal's identity is now relayed by French skater Vincent Matheron, thus providing an urban anchor to a collection of wide, comfortable and fashionable jeans. "The fact that two executives have taken over the company encourages the emergence of a collective spirit, even if it is not easy to become bosses after having been employees," comments the commercial director, Stéphane Vasseur, to FashionUnited. "Everyone has strong proposals, no one is illegitimate. If we are all together, we will succeed. Otherwise, we will not succeed."

A sentence that resonates with the observation made by the editorial staff that the Who's Next show can rely on a solidarity fashion sector to chart its course and open up to new perspectives.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.FR. It was translated to English using AI and edited by Rachel Douglass.

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