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

Regional Visual Director for GUESS?

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.

Lois Webster's job is to grab you when you walk into a GUESS? store. Grab you visually, that is! Lois is one of two GUESS? regional visual managers in the United States. Lois manages the West Coast. The West Coast encompasses a huge area, and definitely keeps Lois busy! The West and East Coast regional visual managers oversee 12 visual managers throughout the United States. Each of these in turn is responsible for 6 - 9 GUESS? stores. Lois helps the visual managers to understand the company image and trains them to express it in the best way possible in their stores. It's a learning cycle that comes full circle with the visual managers sharing the corporate vision with their store employees. In this visual communications process, a common vision is formed within the nationwide GUESS? store circuit.

Hailing from North Carolina, Lois built up an impressive employment history before GUESS? She worked for Tommy Hilfiger in North Carolina and went on to work for Macy's in New York. She made the big move west to Los Angeles and started working for GUESS? in 1985.

Lois always keeps in mind that customers appreciate space and ease of movement when they're shopping. To accommodate this need, GUESS? stores have large aisles and wide open spaces between racks. Lois and the store visual managers deal with aesthetic details such as images, lighting, props, and color. The company's overall visual language is communicated through store dynamics like displays, aisle arrangements, signage, and furnishings. Lois summed up the GUESS? visual philosophy: "Make your visuals catch a customer's eye...they'll stop...they'll touch...they'll try on...they'll buy."

Lois also makes sure that the managers and associates under her understand and believe in the vision GUESS? has developed. If there is a particular store with low sales figures, then she will personally go and find out if it's a visual problem. If it is, she works with the visual manager of that store and its staff to strengthen their visual skills. Lois helps bring up sales and morale by improving the displays and visual feel of the location.

The ultimate goal at GUESS? is to communicate their vision to the customer. Customers tend to develop loyalty to the brand when they can relate to and are familiar with its visual feeling. When they walk into a GUESS? store, customers should feel comfortable and confident that they are shopping for great merchandise. This is why the visual aspect of each GUESS? store is so important to maintain. Also, the visual aspect of a store often determines whether a new customer will be "grabbed" or not.

What does she look for when hiring a visual specialist? Lois explained: "GUESS? looks for people with excellent visual communication and design skills. Just as important are strong verbal and written communication and management skills. No matter how much design talent you have, if you can't communicate your ideas, they won't get across to anyone else."

Lois's final words of advice to students relate to her multi-faceted career. "You need to be well-rounded in anything you do, whether in the fashion industry or not. Having strengths in only one or a few areas diminishes your potential and your marketability."