Income Taxes (Details)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 02, 2013 USD ($)	Feb. 02, 2013 USD ($)	Jan. 28, 2012 USD ($)	Jan. 29, 2011 USD ($)	Feb. 02, 2013 Foreign country Italy USD ($) subsidiary	Feb. 02, 2013 Foreign country Italy EUR (€) members	Sep. 01, 2012 Foreign country Italy USD ($)	Feb. 02, 2013 Foreign country Italy Other long-term liabilities USD ($)	Feb. 02, 2013 Foreign country Italy Other long-term liabilities EUR (€)
Federal:
Current		$ 42,365,000	$ 84,994,000	$ 59,720,000
Deferred		10,943,000	(3,136,000)	11,484,000
State:
Current		5,853,000	11,607,000	7,953,000
Deferred		1,494,000	(193,000)	3,548,000
Foreign:
Current		30,775,000	32,975,000	47,353,000
Deferred		7,698,000	2,444,000	(3,184,000)
Total		99,128,000	128,691,000	126,874,000
Accumulated undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries	700,000,000	700,000,000	631,000,000
Difference of actual income tax expense and expected income tax expense
Computed "expected" tax expense		98,215,000	139,769,000	147,482,000
State taxes, net of federal benefit		4,776,000	7,419,000	7,475,000
Incremental foreign taxes in excess of/(less than) federal statutory tax rate		(13,307,000)	(19,457,000)	(27,822,000)
Net tax settlements		12,832,000	0	0
Other		(3,388,000)	960,000	(261,000)
Total		99,128,000	128,691,000	126,874,000
Allocation of total income tax expense (benefit)
Operations		99,128,000	128,691,000	126,874,000
Stockholders' equity		3,703,000	(208,000)	(8,234,000)
Total income taxes		102,831,000	128,483,000	118,640,000
Tax effects of the components of other comprehensive income
Unrealized net gain (loss) on hedges		(1,056,000)	1,170,000	(399,000)
Unrealized gain (loss) on investments or reclassification of loss to income		85,000	(24,000)	72,000
SERP		2,855,000	(2,057,000)	(251,000)
Total income tax (income) expense		1,884,000	(911,000)	(578,000)
Total earnings before income tax expense and noncontrolling interests
Domestic operations		169,755,000	245,554,000	215,689,000
Foreign operations		110,859,000	153,787,000	205,688,000
Earnings before income tax expense		280,614,000	399,341,000	421,377,000
Deferred tax assets:
SERP	22,719,000	22,719,000	23,255,000
Rent expense	14,680,000	14,680,000	13,829,000
Deferred compensation	8,483,000	8,483,000	11,748,000
Bad debt reserve	7,006,000	7,006,000	8,332,000
Fixed assets bases difference	5,695,000	5,695,000	7,903,000
Net operating losses	2,413,000	2,413,000	1,675,000
Uniform capitalization	2,096,000	2,096,000	2,042,000
Deferred income	1,642,000	1,642,000	9,386,000
Inventory valuation	119,000	119,000	690,000
Accrued bonus	0	0	1,783,000
Other	16,895,000	16,895,000	7,712,000
Total deferred assets	81,748,000	81,748,000	88,355,000
Deferred tax liabilities:
Goodwill amortization	(3,189,000)	(3,189,000)	(3,666,000)
Other	(11,097,000)	(11,097,000)	(9,090,000)
Valuation allowance	(3,346,000)	(3,346,000)	(1,984,000)
Net deferred tax assets	64,116,000	64,116,000	73,615,000
Current deferred tax assets	21,053,000	21,053,000	21,002,000
Non-current deferred tax assets	43,063,000	43,063,000	52,613,000
Income tax examination
Number of Italian subsidiaries whose audit is pending with the Italian tax authority					1
Fiscal years under examination by tax authorities					2008 and 2009
Formal tax assessment received, amount							12,000,000
Tax settlement charge	12,800,000				12,800,000
Settlement charge previously accrued as an uncertain tax position					11,700,000
Settlement liability, amount included in other long-term liabilities								12,400,000	9,100,000
Threshold for proposed income adjustments automatically referred for review by a public prosecutor						€ 2,000,000
Current members of Guess European management team subject to review by a public prosecutior						1
Former members of Guess European management team subject to review by a public prosecutor						2