Paul Marciano

Paul Marciano (born ) is a Moroccan-born American fashion designer, businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder of Guess? Inc; his black-and-white advertisements have won numerous Clio awards. Initially run by all four Marciano brothers (Paul, Armand, Maurice and Georges), today the company and its extension lines, Marciano and G by Guess, are handled by Paul and Maurice. He is also a large benefactor to one of the larger Sephardic synagogues in Los Angeles, Em Habanim. Early life Paul Marciano was born around 1952 in Debdou, Morocco to a Jewish family and raised in Marseille, France with his four siblings, Georges, Armand, Maurice and Jacqueline. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were rabbis. They lived in an apartment in a synagogue complex. From ages 8–15, Paul, along with his brothers, was a member of the Éclaireurs israelites de France, a Jewish boy scout group which was located in the same complex. At 15, he and a friend were involved in a motorcycle accident when they collided with an oncoming car. After being told he would never walk again, he spent seven months in a wheelchair. He eventually regained full use of his limbs after a year and a half, but was not re-accepted into school due to his prolonged absence. Unable to finish his education, he traveled to Israel to live in a kibbutz. Career MGA Marciano worked in his family's clothing company, MGA (which stood for Maurice Georges Armand), with shops in French Riviera. The Marciano brothers, Paul, Georges, Armand, and Maurice, visited Southern California during an extended leave in 1977, and developed an appreciation for the area. After political changes in France in 1981 and the rise to power of socialist François Mitterrand, the Marcianos closed MGA and moved to the United States. They also ran an MGA on Little Santa Monica in Beverly Hills in the early 1980s. The brothers soon started the world-famous clothing company Guess.