Supermodel Kate Upton has accused a high-ranking Guess fashion executive of repeatedly groping and sexually harassing her on photo shoots when she was 18, in an exclusive interview with Time published on Wednesday.
“Despite doing everything I could physically do to avoid his touch throughout the meeting, he continued to touch me in a very dominating and aggressive way, grabbing my thighs, my arms to pull me closer, my shoulders to pull me closer, my neck, my breasts, and smelling me,” Upton, 25, said. “I was extremely shaken, surprised and scared.”
The allegations directed at the brand’s co-founder and creative director, Paul Marciano, are perhaps the most high-profile ones to come out of the fashion industry since the #MeToo movement began in earnest late last year. Upton is one of the most famous models in the industry and Marciano’s Guess is a trend-setting, multibillion-dollar brand.
Upton first levied the charges in a Twitter post a week ago, writing: “It’s disappointing that such an iconic women’s brand @Guess is still empowering Paul Marciano as their creative director #metoo.”
It’s disappointing that such an iconic women’s brand @GUESS is still empowering Paul Marciano as their creative director #metoo
— Kate Upton (@KateUpton) January 31, 2018
As the post picked up visibility, other women chimed in to share accounts of similar experiences relating to Marciano. The actor Sade Sellers agreed with Upton, tweeting: “I worked with him for a few years and was too afraid to say anything, but this is true. So very true.”
Upton’s claims were corroborated by the photographer on several shoots, Yu Tsai, according to Time, but Marciano himself told the magazine that the claims were “absolutely false” and “preposterous”.
“I will not allow others to defame me and tarnish my reputation,” he continued. “I have pledged to Guess and its board of directors my full support and cooperation with a fair and impartial investigation.”
The fashion industry has been seen as a likely place for the next site of a #MeToo outcry after the film industry was rocked by the uncovering of rampant serial harassment of subordinates by powerful men. Ingrained sexual misconduct has also been exposed of late in the media and on Capitol Hill in particular, leading to a string of high-profile departures and a fresh focus on sexual bullying in the workplace.
Meanwhile, a woman who is among many who have accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment and assault has announced she is running for office. Rachel Crooks will compete as a Democrat in a race for an Ohio state legislature seat.
