While “sexy” and “cool” are two words that Abercrombie & Fitch’s CEO Mike Jeffries wants people to associate with his brand, “controversial” is one that seems to be consistent when describing it in the media.
Recently, the retail brand has come under fire for its limited sizing policy, only selling women’s clothing from extra-small to large and up to a size 10 waist in pants. Abercrombie has also dealt with many other issues involving their company policy over the years — racial profiling, discriminatory slogans on T-shirts, and its advertising strategies.
Jeffries has been noted saying in an interview with Salon, “A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”
The clothing retailer has been known as only hiring “beautiful people,” with the widely-known rumor of more attractive people working in the front of the store to greet customers, while people working in the back stockroom are deemed not as attractive.
“That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people.”
While Abercrombie’s main goal is to become more “exclusionary,” they are receiving criticism and backlash due to their methods of achieving it. Other stores such as Lane Bryant and Avenue target plus-size women, but Abercrombie is portraying itself as superior to people who don’t fit their image’s criteria — in this case, people who do not fit their clothing.
Sixty-seven percent of Americans today are classified as overweight or obese. Secluding themselves from such a large audience of people (a percentage much greater than half of the country) is very risky, especially for a company that plans to close 180 stores by 2015 due to low sales and performance.
Competitors such as American Eagle Outfitters and Forever 21 have plus-size sections of their brands, both having pant sizes that go up to a size 18 and offering clothing in XXL.
Another story surrounding the brand has also recently broke. In response to Jeffries’ latest actions on capping their sizes, a Los Angeles-based writer, Greg Karber, has started a social media campaign that encourages people to donate their Abercrombie & Fitch clothes to homeless people. Called #FitchTheHomeless, Karber wants the brand to become “the number one brand of homeless apparel.”
Although some consumers are sure to keep shopping at Abercrombie, whether or not they are Jeffries’ image of Abercrombie’s ideal customer, it’s assumed that they have lost the loyalty of a great deal of people due to the CEO’s crass comments.
Celebrities such as Kirstie Alley and Ellen DeGeneres have also spoken out against the brand. Alley, a mother of two girls, has claimed to stop them from shopping in the store any longer. “I’ve got two kids in that [target] bracket, but they will never walk in those doors because of [Jeffries’] view of people — forget women, his view of just people,” she said.
On May 15, Mike Jeffries released an apology on Abercrombie’s Facebook stating, “ … I sincerely regret that my choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offense … We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics.”
This may just be another apology to add to the list of the countless previous ones; this is not the first time the “cool lifestyle” brand has been under fire for its controversial approaches to exclusionary customer service. Openly bashing a wide demographic of consumers and then retracting statements once it causes a negative uproar is not how to tend your clientele, especially coming from a company who claims to be centered around diversity.
And while there is still 23 percent of people who could probably fit into Abercrombie’s clothes, the question still remains — are they attractive enough to wear them?
