You can only wear Abercrombie if the CEO thinks you deserve to

[the_ultimate_evil]

Not available in XL: Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries accused of only wanting 'thin and beautiful people'
Company's aggressive pursuit of the preppy, highly-sexed 18- to 22-year-old demographic is largely down to its 68-year-old CEO


In an interview with Business Insider, Lewis suggested Jeffries “doesn't want his core customers to see people who aren't as hot as them wearing his clothing. People who wear his clothing should feel like they're one of the 'cool kids.'” The chain, which has more than 300 outlets in the US, sells men's clothes in XL and XXL sizes, but these are designed solely to fit the muscle bulk of strapping sportsmen, says Lewis. “Abercrombie is only interested in people with washboard stomachs who look like they're about to jump on a surfboard.”.

A&F's aggressive pursuit of the preppy, highly-sexed 18- to 22-year-old demographic is largely down to its 68-year-old CEO, who explained his strategy to Salon in 2006. “That's why we hire good-looking people in our stores,” Jeffries said. “Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don't market to anyone other than that.” He went on: “In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

The company, infamous for its semi-naked sales assistants, has come under fire previously for its emphasis on appearance. In 2004 A&F settled a $40m (£26m) class-action discrimination lawsuit in the US, after accusations that it filled its shop floors with almost exclusively white staff. Five years later, Riam Dean, a British student born without a left forearm, won £9,000 from the firm after she was forced to work in a stock-room, where she wouldn't be seen by customers. Last year, a leaked company email revealed that employees at the chain's Milan store were made to perform military-style exercises, such as push-ups and squats, in order to maintain their toned physiques.

Yet Abercrombie's policy of excluding overweight customers may turn out to be not only bad publicity, but also bad business. Recent estimates suggest that around two-thirds of America's clothes-buying population now fall into the plus-size category, generally deemed to be US size 14 and above. There are no women's trousers larger than a 10 on offer at A&F, whose size chart runs only from Extra Small to Large. By contrast, its leading competitors H&M and American Eagle offer up to sizes 16 and 18 respectively. H&M recently hired plus-size model Jennie Runk as the face - and body - of its latest beachwear collection.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...anting-thin-and-beautiful-people-8608022.html


Seen this on the news this morning, yeah the guys a complete prick and seems to live in a fantasy world, but as a marketing ploy it seems to be doing its job

 

[terry78]

He knows what he's doing. You don't say something like that unless you literally have nothing to lose from it. That **** will just make kids want it more.

 

[Marvolo]

I don't see anything wrong with it. Specialty shops have always had a clientele they aim for. Its pretentious but nothing to get worked up over. Besides Abercrombie is over priced drek that wears out quick.

Something not entirely different I have seen is some states have a price markup on clothes larger than XL. I've never encountered it in NC, but I have in SC and TN.

 

[Sawyer]

How is this news? Abercrombie has always been anti-fat/ugly.

 

[Marvolo]

How is this news? Abercrombie has always been anti-fat/ugly.

This isn't even the first time they have been in the news over something like this. They got into a stink over refusing to hire fat people not too long ago.

 

[Anita18]

I knew there was a reason I never bought any A&F or even walked into a store. I'm never been fat, but according to their models/topless salespeople, I shouldn't bother anyway since I'm not white.

I always did think how pretentious it was that they had giant pictures of shirtless guys in their storefront to make you want to buy their CLOTHES.

 

[Victarion]

Shop somewhere else, then. I've been following reactions via threads on the Misc; all overblown. I'm a slim man. I sure can't shop at the speciality stores for the more robust gents. This situation is more or less the same. Nothing is stopping anyone from going into Abercrombie except the fact that the clothes might not fit you.

At the risk of sounding like an a-hole, if this is rustling jimmies, then the people who're mad should make an effort to get themselves in shape. Note that I didn't say supermodel anorexic skinny.

 

[ЯɘvlveR]

master troll that ceo. and on top of that he does it while wearing a ron perlman mask.

 

[HR-PUFF&STUFF]

if you are big you buy bigger clothes, if you are small you buy smaller clothes. this guy is saying that if you are big **** off you suck and are uncool. i have never seen a mens big and tall shop that hated on skinny men. its the attitude this guy has, if he wanted to sell clothes to skinny people fine but to call fat people un-American is just wrong.

 

[Anubis]

Honestly, his clothes look kinda stupid anyway.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Well well well, what do we have here.

 

[Anita18]

master troll that ceo. and on top of that he does it while wearing a ron perlman mask.

I think that's why it's getting so much news - if he were a walking Adonis, people would chalk it up to "okay, he's a *****ebag, but he's good-looking so he can say it."

But he's not good-looking enough to even wear his own products!

 

[Erzengel]

What they should stop doing is dropping bottles of cologne outside their store.

 

[Octoberist]

Luckily I'm handsome so it doesn't affect me. I kid, I kid. (I am handsome though! Runs away)

 

[terry78]

They play an inordinately large amount of dance music whenever I walk past.

 

[socool]

OH THE ****ING IRONY.

 

[Sawyer]

Ew...

 

[Matt Mortem]

Abercrombie clothes look like garbage anyhow. Even if I could fit into their clothes, I have too much respect for myself to be caught dead in Abercrombie, not matter what this guy says. My outsides may look like a train wreck, but at least I'm not a **** on the inside. I had to develop a personality *gasp*

 

[Thundercrack85]

Fat people should be outlawed.

 

[Anubis]

Skinny people should be eaten.

Possibly boiled down into a soup.

 

[Matt Mortem]

Skinny people should be eaten.

Possibly boiled down into a soup.

Too boney. Tried it already.

 

[Anubis]

But it's good for you.

 

[Matt Mortem]

But it's good for you.

If I gave a rats ass about what was good for me, I'd be able to wear Abercrombie

 

[Thundercrack85]

But seriously, not to invoke Godwin's law prematurely, but doesn't this remind anyone else of a certain German political party with a particularly exclusionary philosophy?

 

[Liam_H]

Ehh, the guy just said what has been obvious for quite awhile.