GUESS PRESENTS
“THE CREATION OF A DIVA”
From January 17 to March 3, 2025, MUDEC – The Museum of Cultures of Milan will be hosting the photographic exhibition “THE CREATION OF A DIVA”, in its Mudec Photo spaces, promoted by GUESS with the scientific consultancy of the curator Massimiliano Capella.
This retrospective showcases the brand’s most iconic models and advertising campaigns, intertwining fashion, photography and video in an immersive journey recounting Paul Marciano’s creative universe and revolutionary vision. The exhibition explores a pure, instantly recognizable aesthetic, revealing Marciano’s talent in discovering new faces and transforming young promises into true fashion icons.
The itinerary, split into thematic sections, accompanies the visitor over a period of time ranging from 1981 to the present day. In addition to photographs of the divas of the GUESS campaigns, visitors can explore experiential rooms that tell the story of the brand. Interactive installations, plays of light and the famous GUESS red make the tour even more engaging.
“We are excited to be holding this retrospective at MUDEC,” said Paul Marciano, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of GUESS?, Inc. “This is a prestigious institution on the Italian cultural scene, and the perfect place to celebrate the evolution of our campaigns, which have marked the history of fashion. This exhibition will offer a unique experience paying tribute to our history.”
The advertising campaigns, immortalized by legendary photographers such as Ellen Von Unwerth, Wayne Maser, Bryan Adams and Dewey Nicks just to name a few, evoke the charm of the Hollywood of yesteryear, reinterpreted through modern women embodying GUESS’ hallmark bold and sensual spirit. From the first “GUESS Girl”, the young Estelle Lefebure, to world-renowned supermodels such as Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigova, Naomi Campbell and Anna Nicole Smith, GUESS has launched the careers of some of fashion’s brightest stars.
The photographic and fashion exhibition set up in the Mudec Photo spaces celebrates not just 40 years of GUESS, but also the great photographers behind its now iconic advertising campaigns and, above all, the brand’s extraordinary ability to transform models into real “Divas” of fashion, regarded to this day as some of the most important and iconic protagonists of the glamor scene of recent decades. The exhibition sets the stages of a journey that intertwines the glorious history of GUESS with other visual elements, mechanisms, processes and global events in the world of fashion and, more broadly, of American customs and culture: a narrative that has its roots in the analog era of film, only to merge with the frenzy and fluidity of the contemporary digitized world.
WHERE:
MUDEC - Museo delle Culture
Via Tortona 56
20144 Milan, Italy
WHEN:
January 17th – March 3rd, 2025