City of Hope to Honor Apparel Maker Gerard Guez

For more than three decades, Gerard Guez has been at the center of the Los Angeles apparel industry.

With all those years in manufacturing and for his philanthropic support of the City of Hope, the cancer research and treatment center in Duarte, Calif., is awarding Guez its “Spirit of Life” award. The award will be given Nov. 20 at a fund-raising event scheduled at SoHo House in West Hollywood, Calif.

Guez first started working at Sasson Jeans, a Los Angeles denim company launched by his brother Paul Guez, in 1977.

Gerard and business partner Todd Kay went on to found Tarrant Apparel Group, a private label and branded blue-jeans maker that at one time made nearly $400 million a year selling denim pants and casual clothes to major chain stores such as The Limited, Kohl’s and Lane Bryant.

Tarrant Apparel went public in 1995 and was traded on the NASDAQ for 14 years. In 2009, Guez took the company private, renaming it Sunrise Brands Inc.

Today, Sunrise manages a passel of brands that include American Rag, Seven7 Jeans, Dylan George, Superdry and ReRock Jeans.

“I’m proud to continue Sunrise Brands’ support for the City of Hope, an organization that has been making a difference in the lives of patients and communities everywhere for nearly 100 years,” said Guez, chairman of Sunrise Brands.—Deborah Belgum