Guess foundation promotes social change from LA to Italy

The Guess foundation, a Los Angeles brand founded in 1994, plans to continue its mission of raising funds for philanthropic organizations by launching a brand new project in Europe this year.

The foundation uses its popular brand to support causes that help promote social change. The GUESS Foundation hopes to foster social, health, and education opportunities in order to give everyone equal opportunities. In the last year, the Guess foundation donated over 800,000 dollars to organizations such as “Peace Over Violence for Denim Day,” “Make-A-Wish Foundation,” “World Heart Federation,” and “St. John’s Health Center.”

This summer, the Guess foundation will launch its first project in Italy. The program will aim to help women victims of violence. Paul Marciano, President of the Guess foundation and CEO/Creative Director, stated “We feel a strong duty to increase the media attention on this issue in Italy.” Marciano said that the commitment for this cause is strong, however the statistics still require action in order to help the women in need.

FRA survey reveals urgency of Guess foundation's help

According to a survey last March by the agency of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union (FRA), physical and/or sexual violence against women is deemed a human rights violation. In the survey, 33 percent of respondents stated they suffered physical/sexual violence since the age of 15. The survey also shows that 5 percent were victims of rape by that age. In addition, the results revealed that 18 percent of Italian women have suffered harassment in the workplace. Also, 38 percent of women stated that they experienced physical violence by their partners. “The mission of the Guess Foundation is helping to raise awareness towards this social plague, unfortunately still widely extensive,” said Marciano.

The charitable project will start along with “Denim Day,” which is a day in which the foundation promotes positivity and support. The Denim Day project started in 1998 as a response to an Italian Court judgment. The court overturned a rape case against a 45-year-old man, where the female victim was wearing tight jeans. The court ruled that the jeans could not have been taken off without her consent. American women protested against this verdict by wearing tight blue jeans on “Denim Day.” The campaign has gone national in the United States in order to promote the prevention of rape and sex crimes.