<p>An online campaign is attempting to “rebrand” Abercrombie & Fitch by donating the company’s clothes to the homeless, after company CEO Mike Jeffries “doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store.”
Jeffries is quoted as saying
Apparently, by this he means very thin. A & F does not carry any size above large which is about a size 10 to those who wear a 10. Hollister, an A & F store/brand follows the same policies.<br>
I have two daughters. D1 is 55 and a size 2, 4 or 6. I do not know because I no longer buy her clothes. D2 is 511 and a size 12 with effort. Again not sure of size. They were different sizes since birth. D2 was several pounds heavier. But they were raised with the same meals, foods available and restrictions. They just have very different bodies.
D2 could never find any clothes in A & F, Hollister and many other teen stores. She now tells me of how embarrassed and humiliated she felt on our girls shopping outings because nothing fit.
I remember being very annoyed, angry actually, that we couldnt find anything for D2. But to now find out that it is an actual marketing campaign, although I guess I always suspected, makes me furious that I ever set foot in their stores. D2 still hates to go clothes shopping and she just turned 23.
Thank goodness my Ds outgrew these stores in about 9th or 10th grade. D1 is now living in NYC and has many options. D2 still never wants to shop but likes H &M. But it too usually only has small sizes. But she can find some clothes.
So where do your teens shop? Anyone regret shopping A & F or Hollister? Willing to give these clothes to shelters?</p>
<p>Our daughters are size 4 or 6 depending on cut and they are 5’9"+. I know because I still buy a lot of their clothes. They were too cool to wear A&F. The only time I ever shopped at A&F were to buy presents for their friends or for people living overseas.</p>
<p>D1&D2 like Madwell, Zara, Massimo Dutti for casual wear.</p>
<p>Only folks I know/know of wearing A & F are either folks from upper-middle class suburbs or recent Asian-American immigrants trying to be trendy. </p>
<p>In my social circles, A & F is derided not only for actions described in the article linked to by OP, but also among socially conscious Asian-Americans because A & F because of racist imagery like this:</p>
<p>Really, this is news? If you don’t like the store and or their policies don’t shop there. If enough people do that they will either change or go out of business. It’s that simple. </p>
<p>I really don’t care. I’ve been a size zero and a size 14, obviously with everything in between. I’ve never set foot in here because just walking by the store makes me nauseous. The only thing that really concerns me about this is the fact that many young girls already have major self image issues. They don’t need added stress. </p>
<p>I’m rooting for A&F to go bankrupt just on principle. It’s a horrible store on many levels.</p>
<p>Like Romanigypsyeyes, my body has run the gamut of sizes from 6 to 14, so I am quite offended at the notion of discrimination of this type.
It is particularly unsettling when this behavior is directed at kids.
A&F is not the only retailer that engages in this practice. I have read in the past that upscale retailers do not want what they consider to be “overweight” women shopping in their stores. It is thought that it will “turn off” the thinner more chic clients. Some stores like Saks Fifth Avenue only sell larger sizes on line. Others don’t sell them at all. Manufacturers of high end designer clothing also do not make clothes in sizes larger than 10.
I always disliked shopping at A&F anyway ( the scent of the cologne was so overpowering) so I was happy when my kids no longer considered it “Cool”. At the time though, I never noticed the lack of sizes. I will no longer shop there for gifts or anything else.</p>
<p>Both my sons liked A&F when they were in HS, but thank goodness that’s all behind us. My displeasure with A&F (besides the horrible loud music) is that its clothes are very very expensive. I mean, VERY expensive. </p>
<p>I don’t have a problem with their targeting to a certain customer. That’s what all stores do.</p>
<p>There’s a great you tube video making the FB loops about a young man that is single handedly trying to make A & E a popular homeless person brand. I can’t post the link here, but search you tube with the key words, “Abercrombie & Fitch Gets a Brand Readjustment”. Implied in that though is that homeless people have no self respect and are unaware of A & E’s policies or that they are so down and out that they will take any clothing. The whole thing is offensive. We never bought those clothes because they were just too plain expensive, so glad we didn’t ever contribute to them.</p>
<p>I KNOW. He has had so much work done that he doesn’t look human any more.</p>
<p>What I find most offensive about that store is the prices, along with the advertising. Unfortunately, my daughter likes the styles that AF/Hollister/American Eagle promote, I think because they are “safe” (she is not much of a trendsetter). Fortunately, both the AF and Hollister at our local mall have shut down, so she is having to find other options.</p>
<p>“Manufacturers of high end designer clothing also do not make clothes in sizes larger than 10”</p>
<p>First, is has nothing to do with discrimination, but rather it is a business decision. Most high end clothing is sold in Europe and Asia where women are smaller, and it simply does not make sense to make something that has little chance of selling. </p>
<p>Second, have you tried on designer clothing sold in the US lately? Vanity sizing is all over the place: Prada, Gucci, etc. and especially American high end designers.</p>
<p>Well, I’m happy to say I’ve never contributed any money to their brand. But sad to say that their promotion obviously works well, because my daughters, who would fit in their clothes just fine, knew that it was not a store for them and would not set foot inside.</p>
<p>Perhaps we should have a “weigh in,” and all of us who are too big for their clothes and their image should just go wander around the stores. Would it have the same effect as the sit ins of old?</p>
<p>And it’s not the sizes that are the problem. There is a clothes store here called “5-7-9” (that we call 0-3-5) that makes it clear that they are selling teen clothes up to size 9. But they aren’t claiming that you have to be “cool enough” to shop there and if you aren’t cool then don’t bother. That’s just the sizes they have so shop there or don’t.
It is the self-selection with A & F that is upsetting to me. You aren’t one of “us” so don’t even think about coming here, we don’t want you. You aren’t good enough. But “we” are.</p>
<p>On one hand I can understand the decision - A&F wants to sell to people who value appearance enough to shell over TONS of money to have the right look, and the majority of these people ALSO extend “the right look” to mean “the right size”. He has a target market, and he is exploiting it.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I feel an instinctive derision for people who shop there - their apparent obsession with clothing and looks does not sit well with my experiences of people. Every time I walk past I feel myself moving to the opposite side of the mall, because something about that place just screams “DATE RAPE”.</p>
<p>It is a brilliant marketing campaign. How do I know this? We are talking about it here and many other people are also talking about A&F. That’s brand recognition that few other companies have in that industry.</p>
The only time I ever shopped at A&F were to buy presents for their friends or for people living overseas.</p>