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Our fourteen-year-old selves would have been utterly ecstatic about the just-unveiled behemoth of a North American Guess flagship on Fifth Avenue and 47th Street. At the official opening last night, our adult selves walked the gleaming 13,000-square-foot space, marveling at the loads of chain mesh design spilling from the ceilings and the blocks of iconic red and retro (as in '90s) ad images peppering the lively space.
The two-level flagship is so huge that it has indoor transportation. Your options: A boutique-hotel–style elevator complete with a floor-to-ceiling poster of Eva Herzigova from the 1992 campaign shot by Ellen Von Unwerth, or a long steep escalator that reminded us of the ascension from Grand Central or the London Tube.
On the expansive ground floor level, shoppers will find the majority of womenswear, a woman's denim bar, shoes, and bags. The level also features an amplified selection of Guess jewelry and watches, including the European jewelry collection, which we're predicting will be a big hit amongst the tourist shoppers that regularly traipse down the Fifth Avenue shopping corridor.
If you want to feel nostalgic (or just old, really), be sure to take a peek at the wall near the foyer that leads into the L'Oreal building. We like to think of it as the shrine honoring the supermodels of Guess past—famous ad images of legendary Guess faces, like Claudia Schiffer and Anna Nicole Smith, illuminate the wall.
If you take the near-interminable escalator up to the second level, you'll pass a 12-foot high LED screen featuring scenes from past runway shows or ad campaigns. The upper level holds additional womenswear (lots of nautical and military) and the menswear, men's denim bar, shoes, and accessories. There's even man jewelry up here. There are also more areas to lounge around on vintage plush leather couches and high-back chairs, surrounded by another waterfall of dripping mesh and over a rug cobbled together with 500 vintage jean patches.
As we were wandering the cavernous space, we were backed by an 80's soundtrack featuring classics like "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" by Jermaine Stewart segueing into "Let's Hear it For the Boy" by Denise Williams from Footloose, making the nostalgia trip that much more real.
· Guess Flagship to (Maybe?) Open During Fashion Week [Racked]
· Guess [Official Site]
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