The madness behind Abercrombie and Fitch Options

[Mireh]

So obviously people in this forum have drastically different views on the company Abercrombie and Fitch. We have ardent followers that shop religiously and exclusively at AF/HCO/AKids. And then we have people who are totally against it and despise it.

So. Why is abercrombie and fitch so controversial?

I read this article a while back (it's quite old actually, 2005) and stumbled across it again. It's quite interesting (well, at least I think soo..).

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/01/2...s/index_np.html

Some quotes, for all of you too lazy to read the article

Jeffries never lost sight of who his customer is, and he created a quality brand that caters to the cool clique and has a sense of exclusivity, yet it still has a mass appeal, because people want to be a part of it. It's genius."

For example, when I ask him how important sex and sexual attraction are in what he calls the "emotional experience" he creates for his customers, he says, "It's almost everything. 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. We don't market to anyone other than that."

As far as Jeffries is concerned, America's unattractive, overweight or otherwise undesirable teens can shop elsewhere. "In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids," he says. "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. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don't alienate anybody, but you don't excite anybody, either."

As for me? I think it's absolute genius how Jeffries was able to turn such a dusty outdated company back around. From a business/marketing perspective its brilliant, but does that give them the right to degrade and isolate others in attempts to maintain their "cool" image?


Discuss, debate, conglomerate

[pandamonium]

it is very genius lol. but every good thing must come to and end. abercrombie will die out. cause everybody knows about it and everbody, mostly everybody, is wearing it and people will not wear it anymore.

i really liked hollister when it started out, they sold really different shirts and they actually sold nice track jackets for guys, which was the whole reason i started shopping there. but then they got popular a year later and then i figured out they were related to abercrombie.

I used to like abercrombie when they didnt have that faded shit, now its like they purposely make some of their clothes ugly cause they know it will sell somehow.

it will die out just give it some time....

[OhMyAnniee]

Whenever I go the mall, A&F is the only store where the employees always greet me when I walk in. Sometimes Hollister does too, but usually the girls working in the front are always busy talking to each other. I mean, I have nothing against any of the stores, but simple things like greetings give you impressions of the store.

I know quite a few people who own shirts from Forever 21 that are copycats of shirts from A&F or Hollister and they're totally against shopping at A&F. I mean, why would you buy something that looks almost exactly the same if you absolutely hate the real thing?

[*mishyerr*]

That's usually what most marketers do. They try to attract a specific group of people rather than EVERYONE. Magazines, for example, reach out to teens, car-lovers, golf-players, etc. It's not because they're trying to be discriminative of whatever.

But I agree. Fat, obese people should wake the f**k up and realize it's their own problem. I know there are 'genetic factors' or whatever, but this weekend when I was reading the new Glamour magazine, I was DISGUSTED by the so-called "not-overweight-but-voluptuous" models. Magazines should not succumb to America's obsession with fast-food, junk-food, and horrific eating habits by sucking up to the fat girls who whine "everyone hates our helpless, diseased bodies".

Go Jeffries.

[michellerrific]

I don't see what is wrong with any part of his point. I think he's right, every store is targeted toward a more specific set of people. Yes, A&F is definitely become "overrated" and trendy.

But what I mean, to answer your question, is that I would tell him to just keep it going. Of course not everyone's going to wear Abercrombie, it depends if it looks good on you and you like the designs. They may be degrading others in the process, but really, with all this phenomenon now, do the other majority of the "non cool" kids feel discriminated against? Just take a look at other stores in the mall. Say..Hot Topic for example. That place is definitely not for everyone, mostly only for those into rock music or whatever else. Would you say they're discriminating?

[HakunaMatata]

^I don't think Hot Topic is doing it in a "Hey, all the people that don't wear our clothes are totally ugly!" kind of way, though.

It's perfectly fine to have a focus. All good stores do. But there's a line. Someone brought up the example of magazines focusing on one group of people to advertise to and serve, but as with the Hot Topic example, they're not insulting to the "outsiders". I find it repulsive that the owner thinks that way of "fat" people". It's not, perhaps, the fact that they cater to skinny people that I find insulting, it's the fact that the owner blatantly insults the people who aren't.

I know quite a few people who own shirts from Forever 21 that are copycats of shirts from A&F or Hollister and they're totally against shopping at A&F. I mean, why would you buy something that looks almost exactly the same if you absolutely hate the real thing?

When did A&F become "the real thing"? I never knew that it had reached such high levels to be considered as so. I buy things from Forever 21 that may look very similar to A&F and I would never buy it from A&F. Why? The price. A&F and Hollister can have the exact same thing as the Target near my house with a logo slapped on it and suddenly, the price doubles.




....and that's my spiel on A&F. Hm. Meaner than I thought it'd be. I think it's the Forever 21 thing. And the no sleep thing. And the Forever 21 thing. And the no sleep thing.

[BeautyInATragedy]

Like some already said, I think his idea is genius. I don't prefer to wear Hollister/AE and all that though because of the image it sends out once you wear it. I honestly don't like wearing clothes that has its brand plastered across your chest or showing at all. It promotes streotyping in a way.

[cori-catastrophe]

so he doesn't care about other people's feelings, just about money. wow. he sounds like a real winner.
eh. no wonder all the kids that wear abercrombie act so much snobbier that "normal" people. the owner teaches them that it's okay to be. what peopl don't reliaze is that "popular" people aren't any better than the people that shop at hot topic. i have some jeans from abercrombie. all my other clothes are from hot topic or garage sells. does it make them any better than me...not at all. i have the money to shop at places with highly expensive clothes, but i don't like their clothes. they're style appeals to people who fit in with the crowd, as he stated, and i have no reason to want to. i have have and i never will. i get all the clothes i like from places that actually have quality clothes for good prices. and what is so funny about the deal is that people whom wear abercrombie look down on people who wear hot topic, but hot topic is just as expensive. but their clothing items actually cover my ass.
it's a great thing, i promise.

[*suddenly she*]

That's usually what most marketers do. They try to attract a specific group of people rather than EVERYONE. Magazines, for example, reach out to teens, car-lovers, golf-players, etc. It's not because they're trying to be discriminative of whatever.

But I agree. Fat, obese people should wake the f**k up and realize it's their own problem. I know there are 'genetic factors' or whatever, but this weekend when I was reading the new Glamour magazine, I was DISGUSTED by the so-called "not-overweight-but-voluptuous" models. Magazines should not succumb to America's obsession with fast-food, junk-food, and horrific eating habits by sucking up to the fat girls who whine "everyone hates our helpless, diseased bodies".

Go Jeffries.

Amen. Thank you, Zeus.

[angelrevelation]

It's a great marketing concept, of course... although it's rather blunt and mean. But it DOES work. It's just sad how people buy into it so much, how they think that clothes totally make the person. That's why many people have such a bad view of it. There's also the assumption that just by wearing something from there that you're instantly cool and better. And then there's plain t-shirts that just have a logo that cost twice as much as any normal shirt.

I agree that even though it's not nice in the least towards "unattractive" people, but people shouldn't have to make everyone feel better by pretending their standards have changed.

[Just_Dream]

Whenever I go the mall, A&F is the only store where the employees always greet me when I walk in. Sometimes Hollister does too, but usually the girls working in the front are always busy talking to each other. I mean, I have nothing against any of the stores, but simple things like greetings give you impressions of the store.

Really? Have you ever been to Express or The Limited or Victoria's Secret? As an associate from The Limited Brand, they greet people too.

Occassionally I'll get greeted at A&F. Not like I care though because I often get looked up before the greeting is said to me.

BTW I read the whole article - why yes, the whole 4 pages. Anyway, I didn't even know that it was originally owned by The Limited Brand. :gasp: Total twist of the plot here! :P I would have to concur that it is genius because obviously it's working. Man, when I used to work at Express, we didn't get nearly as much customers as A&F on very slowwww days. It's so sad, really, and our clothes are more expensive.

[OhMyAnniee]

Really? Have you ever been to Express or The Limited or Victoria's Secret? As an associate from The Limited Brand, they greet people too.

Oh yeah, Express and Victoria's Secret have great customer service. There isn't a The Limited at my mall so I wouldn't know? But I was talking about like the stores leaning towards teens like A&F, Hollister, AE, Aero, etc.

[*I Viddy Horrorshow*]

I actually found that whole article really interesting... What a very strange man, no?

And in any case, I can't afford AF all the time. In England, there is only the one store in London, and it's, like a MASSIVE mark-up from US prices. Seriously. Jeans for £400? Urhm, no thanks.

But, that said, I DO like a lot of the clothes, could I afford them.

[blucheri]

yo ain't Abercrombie and Fitch clothing qulity garbage?

^^^ thats wat i heard. please don't attack me.

[*suddenly she*]

To someone up there - I thought Limited Brands owned everything! Haha.

And yeah, Express, the Limited, and VS (and lots of other stores) have great customer service.

[Ington]

I would probably do the same thing he did. His reasoning is superb.

Everyone, he does not thrive off of the good feelings of others. He thrives off of money. Its his job. And this 'scheme' is head on in generating plenty of money to the company. I'd never buy A&F clothes, but I'd damn well like to run the company.

[Simba]

yo ain't Abercrombie and Fitch clothing qulity garbage?

True. I purchased some shorts from there and now there's an obnoxiously large rip around the knee area only after a short while. I didn't even know it was possible for a rip to have occurred so easily, where the rip was located.

[*mishyerr*]

I don't think we should worry about a 26$ shirt when there are Hermes purses that are worth more than Corvettes.

Let the rich be.

[pandamonium]

yo ain't Abercrombie and Fitch clothing qulity garbage?

^^^ thats wat i heard. please don't attack me.

yea it is. the material of most of their clothing is crappy, it got worse the more they got popular.

and abercrombie isnt preppy, to me preppy is more clean cut, argyle patterned, not worn out clothing.

[jennyjenny]

hey, at least he's being honest. i mean, who would he be trying to kid if he said that they wanted fat people in their clothes. fat people strive to fit in their clothes so maybe it's some sort of motivation, who knows.

Personally, i'm not a huge fan of abercrombie yet i would go in there and mingle to try to find something that caught my eye. i mean, i think it's way too overpriced and overrated, but hey it smells good and shorts are the same price as jeans so you know.

[Just_Dream]

and abercrombie isnt preppy, to me preppy is more clean cut, argyle patterned, not worn out clothing.

I concur

Preppy is more casual, like the sweaters over polos, polos in general, khakis, sweaters tied around the neck, etc. Ripped clothing and tight shirts/pants are preppy. Argyle is complex -- it really depends on the colors, if you think about it. Like purple argyle on a gree sweater looks just.. wroonnnnggg... But if you have white argyle on navy blue or something to that effect it can look between preppy and really classy.

Preppy has a more classic look and if anything, clothes are less fitted, as it should have a polished look, not a skin-tight trendy look.

[datass]

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."

That's just a bitch.

[cori-catastrophe]

True. I purchased some shorts from there and now there's an obnoxiously large rip around the knee area only after a short while. I didn't even know it was possible for a rip to have occurred so easily, where the rip was located.

i bought a pair of $63 jeans there the other day. they were just plain, darkwash jeans to wear around to places. now, around a month later, i can't wear them to school because they have like five holes at the pockets. literally, you can see the outside of the pockets. they have cheap fabric for expensive prices. it's ridiculous. some of their clothes are just made to look trashy though.
my friend has a pair of cotton shorts she got there for like $30 and they barely cover up anything down there.