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• Guess Industry Week
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3

GUESS? Men's Merchandising Director

GUESS? joined FIDM students for a week of discussions, presentations, and fun aimed at educating the student body about the real world of apparel manufacturing, design, and fashion-forward thinking.

Brad Cunningham's career journey into the apparel industry began with the May Department Stores where he completed their executive training program and became an assistant buyer. Soon he was promoted to menswear buyer. Eventually this position encompassed buying for the young men's and boys departments as well. He worked at May Company for eight years before getting his job at GUESS?

GUESS? picked up on his exceptional skills and recruited him as a retail buyer and product developer. His extensive financial skills acquired from a buying background were really important for his new position. Again Brad climbed the success ladder and moved up to men's merchandising director.

Brad works very closely with every stage of product development. At any one point he has three seasons in the works at the same time. Brad explained that an enormous amount of pre-planning goes on behind the scenes of GUESS?, especially since they deal with overseas manufacturers. He gave students a clear understanding of what his job involves with a summary of his involvement with product development:

• He develops a line plan based on trend predictions that includes fabrics, colors, and price points. He gives the line plan to the GUESS? designers to work with.
  
• He then oversees the design development phase.
  
• He looks at the costs and often redevelops and resources items that are too costly.
  
• The product goes into sample production.
  
• Brad reviews the product one last time and gives it his final approval. From there, it's shipped to the manufacturers.
  
• Finally, he works with outside companies to convince them that the GUESS? product is exactly what they want to buy.
  

Brad gave the audience a perfect example of a typical challenge he faces in his job. There was a particular men's pants pattern that had not been updated in five years. Most GUESS? patterns get constant updates on fit, detail, washes, and fabrics to keep them current with emerging trends. These particular pants had definitely passed their style shelf date. They just weren't cool anymore! So Brad began the process of updating their look. One of the GUESS? designers pointed out to Brad that the "uncool" factors were actually in the fabric and the washes, not in the design. So they chose a new fabric-polyester denim, which is hot for jeans right now. Poly denim is dressier than cotton denim because of its sheen. Also, its stretchy quality makes it more body-friendly. Brad says that it can take something as simple as new fabric to breathe fresh life into an older design.

Brad shared the essence of what he has learned during his five years at GUESS?"You can't be a good designer until you understand all production and development steps along the way." He also stressed the importance of understanding the consumer you are targeting.

A student asked Brad for some tips on finding design inspiration. He recommended looking through international magazines from Europe and Asia. "It's hard to come up with completely new ideas, so you often find yourself reinterpreting existing ideas. Look at products being offered abroad and choose ideas that can work here domestically."
The question came up: "Is it good to show a wide range of work during an interview?" Brad answered, "A targeted portfolio is better-keep profiles in the same family, like urban men's, contemporary men's, and casual men's."

Brad is also involved with recruiting new talent. What exactly does he look for in the portfolio of a potential new hire? "Someone who can express themselves in a drawing. It's all about attitude." Brad's enthusiastic, helpful attitude encouraged everyone!