ABERCROMBIE & FITCH
FASHION BRAND ANALYSIS DESN1658 GROUP ESSAY
HARRIETTE HOLDERNESS LOTTI MARTIN-FULLER LOTTIE IRELAND ISABELLA HICKS IMOGEN COX JACOB BENFIELD
1 Introduction The A&F group are a company that came under a lot of scrutiny for a multitude of reasons, including their discrimination against, and treatment of employees. As well as issues of exploitation, inclusion and inappropriate sexualisation. Many of these issues stemmed from the policies enforced by CEO Michael Jeffries which formed the distinct brand image that Abercrombie and Fitch created. The brand realised that these issues were causing them problems and decided that rebranding was necessary, the rebranding was done with varying degrees of success.
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Brand History The company was first founded in 1892 by David T Abercrombie (1867- 1931) and established itself as a store selling hunting and fishing equipment. In 1900, high profile lawyer Ezra Fitch (1865-1930) bought shares and the brand gained its current name, Abercrombie and Fitch. The brand continued to grow and in 1939 was labelled, ‘The Greatest sporting goods store in the world” (Berfield 2015). It dressed Teddy Roosevelt (1959- 1919), Admiral Bryd (1888-1957) and Charles Lindbergh (19021974). However, markets changed and with the growth of new brands such as Nike and Adidas, Abercrombie lost its leading position in the sportswear market. In 1988, after claiming bankruptcy, The Limited bought the company for $47 million. This purchase lead to the consequent downfall of the brand and as a result, Michael Jeffries (1944 -) was brought to The Limited in 1992 as Abercrombie’s creative director. Jeffries was renowned for his racy and scandalous advertisement and ‘transformed A&F into a very sexy teen store’ (Schlossberg 2016). Jeffries created the A&F Quarterly, which was sold for $6 and for several years was sealed in plastic and you had to be eighteen to buy it. Bruce Webber shot all photos and models included Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lawrence and Channing Tatum to represent the brand. All of which aided Jeffries ‘empire of cool based on preppy, well made, expensive clothes, worn low and tight’ (Berfield 2015). Initially, Jeffries influence was hugely positive and his marketing lead to Abercrombie becoming the latest symbol of ‘cool’. In 1999, rap group LFO’s single ‘Summer girls’ exclaiming, ‘I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch, I’d take her if I had one wish’, which highlights the success of the brand at this time.
Success continued, in 1999 the brand opened its subsidiary, Hollister and in 2008 Gilly Hicks. By 2010 the company had nearly 1000 units. However, Jeffries success did not continue and he became notorious (Schlossberg 2016 ) and the brand was ‘Soon in hot water’(Schlossberg 2016). By 2014, sales had been falling for the last seven year and profits were expected to be $106 million (Berfield 2015), less than half of what was made a mere two years earlier. It was consequently decided that Jeffries ‘might overwhelm the business’ (Berfield 2015) and after a 70 % pay cut Jeffries stepped down from CEO in February 2014. (Kell 2014) The company now operates approximately 750 stores in the United states and over 180 (ANF 2017) outside of the United States. It is depicted as an American retailer, with its head offices in New Albany, Ohio. The company currently operates two stores; Hollister & Co and Abercrombie and Fitch.
Brand Controversy The downfall of Abercombie and Fitch began with counts of discrimination in the workplace, stemming from the need to conform to the brands ‘image’. Abercrombie has been found to behave in a discriminatory manner on multiple occasions; most commonly in terms of employment. Evidence of this includes Samantha Elauf who in 2008 was refused a job because of her hijab which supposedly violated the ‘looks policy’ which the company enforced at the time. (Kasperkevic, 2017) As well as this discrimination with religious connotations, Abercrombie discriminated on a racial basis. “In 2004 Less than 10% of stores associates were non-white” (Anfcareers.com, 2017.) Furthermore, an employee alleged that when an executive visited a store “most of the black models were sent home an hour early” she also claimed that when Jeffries visited the store, managers would dismiss staff early until only the “thinnest, tallest and ‘whitest models” were left (Dearden, 2015).
As well as discrimination, the A&F group has been accused of exploitation on several grounds. In one case a male model Benjamine Bowers filed a $1m lawsuit against the retailer and a modelling agent who supposedly requested him to strip off and masturbate during a photoshoot in order to make him look more “relaxed” (Roberts 2017). As well as this, staff were punished for failing to not greet customers on arrival; male staff with sit ups and female with squats (Fashion. telegraph.co.uk, 2017.) Staff are also exploited in terms of 0 hour contracts, a change.org petition with 9502 supporters currently exists entitled “Abercrombie: Stop abusing zero hour contracts” These contracts mean employees have limited rights in terms of social welfare, for example paid sick leave.
Abercrombie and Fitch struggled with issues of inclusion, their strict brand image and “looks policy” which stipulates that all employees “repThe company also had to settle a $40m discrimiresent Abercrombie & Fitch with natural, classic nation lawsuit following accusations that the shop American style consistent with the company’s floors were filled almost solely with white members brand” and “look great while exhibiting individuof staff (Dearden 2015) The company additionally ality”. Workers must wear a “clean, natural, clasdiscriminated against Riam Dean who accused the sic hairstyle” and have nails which extend “no company of “hiding” her in the stockroom because more than a quarter inch beyond the tip of the her prosthetic arm wasn’t in line with their “looks finger” quarter inch beyond the tip of the finger” policy” (Pidd, 2017). Soon after this Riam Dean won (Pidd 2017) In an interview Jeffries explained £9,000 in a lawsuit against the company causing “That’s why we hire good-looking people in our more problems and bad publicity for the companies’ stores. Because good-looking people attract other brand image (Dearden, 2015). good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that,” (denizet-lewis 2006) Until recently the company did not offer any plus size clothing; they didn’t produce XL or XXL sizes for woman although these sizes were offered for men. CEO Mike Jeffries “doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people,” (Lutz 2013).
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The popular casual retailer has also gone under fire for its refusal to stock XL and XXL sizes in women’s clothing, as they feel this would ruin the overall brand image; as they seek to create an ideology of the “cool kids” and consider stocking plus size models as something that could jeopardise the brands overall aesthetic. Robin Lewis, co-author of The New Rules of Retail explains that Mike Jefferies “doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people”(Lutz, 2013). There is no surprise here that Jefferies revolts against plus sizing when in 2006 during an interview with Salon, explained that his business was built around sex appeal. This backfired significantly and protestors gathered outside the Michigan Avenue store in Chicago with banners and posters protesting that “plus-size shoppers now make up to 67% of U.S. consumers” (Jarvis, 2013).
MTV’s reality hit show Jersey Shore also made the press when Abercrombie and Fitch asked cast member Michael Sorrentino to stop wearing their clothes, as they felt “deeply concerned that Mr Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. We have therefore offered a substantial payment to Michael ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino and the producers of MTV’s Jersey Shore to have the characters wear an alternate brand. We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast, and are urgently awaiting a response” (Sweney, 2011). However, Michaels MPS Entertainment responded to the brand by filing for a “$4 million lawsuit alleging trademark violations, deceptive advertising and misappropriation of his publicity rights” (Gardner, 2011).
The company has also been accused of issues with sexualisation. The company’s bags used to feature campaign photographs featuring young In 2002 Abercrombie hit headlines again for models. (Dearden 2015.) In 2002 issues arose printing T-shirts offending Asian-American cularound the company producing thong style unture. The shirts featured men with colonial hats derwear in children’s’ sizes which was finished and slogans that read- “Wong Brothers Launwith phrases such as “wink wink” and “eye candy” dry Service- two Wongs can make a white” and furthermore in 2001 criticism was raised over a “Abercrombie & Fitch Buddha bash - get your catalogue which featured very young models who Buddha on the floor”. Protestors were quick to stand against the brand and explained that these were not fully dressed and posed in a suggestive shirts depicted “negative racial stereotypes” (Day, manner (Krashinsky Robertson 2013.) In a 2006 interview Jeffries claimed sexual attraction was a 2002). Due to the amount of bad press, complaints and protests towards this the shirts were part of the “emotional experience” in his stores. (Denizet-Lewis 2006.) then pulled from stores and online (Lutz, 2013). Furthermore teen activists protested against the brand due to its perfume. Protesters shut down the San Francisco store due to the brands continuous practise of “perfuming the air of their with unregulated toxins”. It is believed that the perfume being sold and sprayed in their stores contains 11 chemicals not listed because they are considered trade secrets, including eight that can trigger allergic reactions, such as headaches, wheezing and asthma.” From this it demonstrates that the Abercrombie’s main target audience – teens, are defying the apathetic youth stereotype (Farrell, 2010).
Impact of Controversy (Phil Wahba, Fortune, November 18th 2016)
In a modern, globalised world, fashion brands are often shaped by the mass media and the press which can shape consumers attitudes towards a brand. In this way, it can often be the cause of reductions in popularity and loss of sales for fashion brands. Abercrombie and Fitch, infamously known for previously targeting sales towards ‘beautiful, young people’ has faced high levels of bad press for the exclusive, often discriminative nature of their products, advertisement and brand characters, who “looked down at people who didn’t have perfect bodies” (Wahba, 2016). In addition, their very exclusive target market, of “thin, tan, popular teens with lots of cash” (Peterson, 2014), was losing popularity since “the logo is no longer cool” (Peterson, 2014) and no longer appealed to this specific target sector. As a result of these factors, the brand saw profits fall dramatically by 81% in the third quarter of 2016 (Wahba, 2016), and has meant that Abercrombie and Fitch has had to rebrand and change their target audience. Abercrombie and Fitch’s aims to create a lifestyle brand, ’believing that through their own products they are promoting a certain way of life’ (Saviolo and Marazza 2013: 60), to be preppy, young, and beautiful, failed. Their former consumer market grew up and the brands products and image no longer appealed to a young market. In addition Abercrombie were unable to compete with more affordable fast fashion brands such as Zara and Forever 21 (Schlossberg, 2016), “since there are better brands and lifestyles for the 20+ customer to focus on” (Schlossberg, 2016). This is evident in figure 1, where sales fell dramatically in 2015, and continued to do so throughout 2016.
Former CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, Mike Jeffries, who is responsible for “cultivating an exclusive image for A&F”, (Wahba, 2016) stating he “didn’t want “fat” or “not so cool” people shopping in his stores” (Bradford, 2013), stepped down in 2014, due to a high demand for a modern rebrand, with the hope to “appeal to older shoppers” (Schlossberg, 2016). Due to the absence of a CEO and the lack of leadership control from 2014 to early 2017, the brands “intangible nature that serves as a set of promises to consumers regarding trust, consistency and expectations” (Sago et al., 2014) was lost, and the brands image was damaged. This meant that sales reduced dramatically, forcing Abercrombie & Fitch to close more than 200 stores in the last two years (Wahba, 2016). However, whilst Abercrombie and Fitch’s previous levels of negative press for being ‘confused’ about their brand and target audience, according to Sago 2014, “in times of negative publicity businesses should institute proactive marketing measures to bolster consumer sentiment and counter the negative news” and in this way Abercrombie have succeeded, since they have made measures to rebrand; recently appointing a new CEO and “getting rid of dark lighting, heavy scents and shirtless models” (Brooke, 2015), in order to appeal to an older, modern market sector.
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Rebranding Abercrombie & Fitch was arguably destroyed by CEO Mike Jeffries up to 2014, who nonchalantly claimed that “a lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], or they can’t belong” (O’Neill, 2016). The brand was once a fashion and cultural icon with a strong brand identity of ‘only cool kids allowed’, however in recent years it was clear that they desperately needed a makeover after the years of bad press surrounding Mike Jeffries, and the flagging sales numbers that came with him.
The brand decided to use the previously negative press as a way to rebrand themselves, as their Autumn/Winter 2016 campaign focused around forgetting their past, the slogan read “People have a lot to say about us. They think they’ve got us all figured out” (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2016). As Sauer says, “the message is a defiant attempt to neutralize what will be the expected criticism about the rebrand” (2016), they know that they will be criticized however it successfully pulled in new customer’s attention. Towards the end of 2015, A&F unexpectedly hired A&F have also wiped clean their social media new people to play key positions in the brand, outlets and changed the ‘About Us’ section on these included a menswear designer from Club their website, using terms such as ‘more diverse Monaco, and a womenswear designer from Karl and inclusive culture’ which was in stark contrast Lagerfeld (Fernandez, 2016). In April 2016 the than under Mike Jeffries reign, favoring white, brand also hired Ashley Sargent Price as a Crethin model-like customers. For the first time in ative Director of Marketing who had previously 20 years the brand is no longer “synonymous worked at J.Crew in order to inject a new lease of with youthful sex appeal” (Sauer, 2016), and is life into their campaigns. The campaigns that foltaking steps towards an inclusive and diverse lowed were said to be “playful, simple and featuring future. a diverse cast of models” (Fernandez, 2016) in contrast to its campaigns just a few years before. Abercrombie & Fitch have completely changed their direction in the marketplace as a bid to revamp the brand, rebuild its relevance and protect their brand value of over 20 years. The brand has switched from an exclusive customer audience to an extremely inclusive and diverse brand identity. The major rebranding includes banishing the dark lighting, heavy scents and topless models – creating a clean slate, ditching the “infamous sexualized marketing” (Fernandez, 2016). Abercrombie have changed their marketing strategy so much that they no longer market to teens, but to young adults instead.
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Rebranding Success Unfortunately, financially Abercrombie & Fitch hasn’t seen a positive turnaround since its rebranding attempts over the last few years in terms of profit and financial gain. It’s been a slow process for the brand as it has thrown away all previous stylization and taken a completely new route, unsure of its target audience and facing the challenging previous representations of the brand, the company has struggled to produce financial gain but things are slowly looking up for the company.
“With simplistic logo tees, cargo shorts, and polos, Abercrombie & Fitch — up until now – has not been known for its visionary fashion. The clothes were mostly for those who subscribed to what malls told them to wear” (The Business Insider UK, Mallory Schlossberg, March 2016).
Alongside this the brand in recent times has also began to release clothing in plus sizes, with the brand in the past being criticized for being an exclusive brand and CEO Mike Jeffries himself has stated ‘In every school there are the cool and “Though sales are still down, they have slowly popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool begun to improve from earlier in the year. The brand’s comparable sales were down 9% in the first kids.Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go quarter of fiscal 2015, and they were down 2% for after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. The parent company’s comparable sales were up 1%, making it the belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.’ (Tony Posnaski, company’s first positive quarter since 2012.” (The The Huffington Post, February 5th 2013) Since Business Insider UK, Mallory Schlossberg, March then in 2013 the brand released clothing in plus 2016). sizes in realization of their discriminative ethos. Despite displaying a slow rise in the financial aspects of the brand the positive aspects of A&B’s reshaping of image as a brand do shine through within the clothing. The brand has taken a more simplistic route in terms of its overall design style, a style it hasn’t been known for at all in the past. In the past the brand has been purely about the logo, it was a brand that generated exclusivity and was more concerned of this than its overall stylization; but now taking a more simplistic, visionary route with their designs the company is slowly but surely diminishing the negativity surrounding the brand.
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8 Their clothing has not been relevant to kids in quite a while.’ (Tony Posnaski, The Huffington Post, February 5th 2013) A&B have come to a realization that millennial generation no longer care for its brand, it’s a lost brand in the eyes of the new tween generation and therefore as a brand its being forced to appeal to an older audience, which arguably is its previous audience, the consumers that remember and care about the brand, the only issue being that they’re aware of its discriminative past and this shows in the brands quarterly sales. 2014 Q4 -9% 2015 Q1 -9% 2015 Q2 -7% 2015 Q3 -5% 2015 Q4 -2% 2016 Q1 -8% 2016 Q2 -7% 2016 Q3 -14% (Phil Wahba, Fortune, November 18th 2016) Despite quarterly sales for the brand not displaying a financial aid of success, the brands image and perception by consumers is slowly but surely changing. “As you can imagine, there’s some preconceived notions with the brand’s image” (The Business Insider UK, Mallory Schlossberg, September 2016) and the company is aware of this. It’s important to note that for a brand to in the first place to attempt to completely restyle themselves and place themselves in a totally different position within consumer eyes is an extremely risky decision to make and to have made this decision initially and to be slowly making success from such a decision has to be perceived as a strong successful start to what will surely be a long journey for the brand. ‘One thing is clear. “I think [A&F] needed to evolve this time,” he continues. “We have to move forward. We can’t step in the same river twice.’ (Complex UK, Karizza Sanchez, March 24th 2016)
9 Conclusion Abercrombie and Fitch was a brand with many issues and controversies which caused them many problems, such as having to go through lawsuits multiple times and facing backlash from the media. Instead of pursuing this warped brand image they decided to rebrand and create a new customer base. The process has not long been underway so has not yet financially benefited the company. However, they have received positive feedback from the public, and those who previously had criticised them. The brand hope to return to the same financial success they were seeing at their peak. Regardless, their priority seems to be maintaining a fair, ethical brand identity that no longer discriminates and exploits.
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Pidd, H. 2017. Disabled student sues Abercrombie & Fitch for discrimination. [Online]. [Accessed 18 Dearden, L. 2015. US student claimed black models were sent home early so they would not be visible Apr. 2017]. The Guardian. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2009/jun/24/abercrombie-fitch-tribunal-riam-dean during an executive’s visit [Online]. [Accessed 17 April 2017]. Available from: http://www.independent. co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/abercrombie-fitch-model-tells-of-racism-sexual-harassment-and-discriminaPosnaski, T. 2013. Dear Abercrombie: Thank You for Allowing Us ‘Fat, Uncool’ Kids to Buy Your Clothing tion-at-store-10175646.html Online. [Online]. [Accessed 17 April 2017]. The Huffington Post. Available from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-posnanski/abercrombie-plus-size_b_4320704.html Denizet-Lewis, B. 2017. The man behind Abercrombie & Fitch. [Online]. [Accessed 18 April 2017]. Salon. Available at: http://www.salon.com/2006/01/24/jeffries/ Posnaski, T. The Huffington Post, February 5th 2013, Dear Abercrombie: Thank You for Allowing Us ‘Fat, Uncool’ Kids to Buy Your Clothing Online. [Online.] [Accessed 18 April 2017]. Available from: Farrell, B. 2010. Teens protest toxic Abercrombie & Fitch fragrance. [Online]. [Accessed 26th April 2017]. Avaliable from: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2010/09/teens-protest-toxic-abercrombie-fitch-fra- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-posnanski/abercrombie-plus-size_b_4320704.html grance/ Roberts, C. 2017. Male model sues Abercrombie & Fitch, agent over masturbation at photo shoot. [Online]. [Accessed 18 April 2017]. NY Daily News. Available from: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ Fashion.telegraph.co.uk. 2017. Abercrombie & Fitch staff ‘told to do press-ups’ when they make misnational/male-model-files-1-million-lawsuit-abercrombie-amp-fitch-modeling-agent-claiming-made-mastakes - Telegraph. [Online]. [Accessed 18 April 2017]. Available from: http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/ turbate-photo-shoot-article-1.1097603 news-features/TMG9128821/Abercrombie-and-Fitch-staff-told-to-do-press-ups-when-they-makemistakes.html Fernandez, C. 2016. Abercrombie & Fitch’s rebrand continues with first campaign from new creative director. [Online]. [Accessed 14 April 2017]. Available from: http://fashionista.com/2016/07/abercrombie-fitch-denim-campaign-2016 Gardner, E. 2011. Abercrombie & Fitch Slams ‘The Situation’ in Detailed Lawsuit Response [Online]. [Accessed 20 April]. Available from: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/jersey-shore-abercrombie-fitch-situation-lawsuit-273667
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illustrations Abercrombie and Fitch. 2017. [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017] Available from: https://www.abercrombie.co.uk/shop/uk Page Elli, A. 2015. Neelam gill wears fashion staples for Abercrombie & Fitch. [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017] Available from: http://www.defuzemag.co.uk/neelam-gill-wears-fashion-staples-abercrombiefitch/ Evolution hair style. 2012. Men in Advertisements. [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017]. Available from: http://evolutionhairstyle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/men-in-advertisements.html Fernandez, C. 2016. Abercrombie & Fitch’s rebrand continues with first campaign from new creative director. [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017]. Available from: http://fashionista.com/2016/07/abercrombie-fitch-denim-campaign-2016 Liao, M. 2016.This isn’t the Abercrombie & Fitch you knew in middle school, it’s better. [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017]. Available from: https://www.popsugar.com/fashion/photo-gallery/42551827/image/42551845/Abercrombie-Fitch-Holiday-2016-Campaign Lowell, C. 2016. Haute D’ Vie Looks at the New Abercrombie & Fitch. [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017]. Available from: http://www.hautedvie.com/haute-d-vie-looks-at-the-new-abercrombie-finch/ Pinterest. 2017. Abercrombie & Fitch People have a lot to say about us ‘They think they’ve got us figured out billboard NYC’. [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017]. Available from: https://in.pinterest.com/ pin/376965431295260206/ Schlossberg, M. 2016. Abercrombie & Fitch’s attempts to rebrand have totally backfired. [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017]. Available from: http://uk.businessinsider.com/abercrombie-and-fitch-turnaround-isproving-difficult-2016-9?r=US&IR=T Neon Mamacita. 2015. A&F Quaterly. [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017]. Available from: http://neonmamacita.com/af-quarterly/ Weber, B. 2017. Abercrombie & Fitch, logo, identity, advertising, magazine, & collateral. [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017]. Available from: http://www.shahidcompany.com/abercrombie-fitch/ Galindo, B. 2015. 12 Celebrities You Might Not Have Realized Were Once Abercrombie & Fitch Models [Online]. [Accessed 25 April 2017]. Available from: https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/12-celebrities-you-might-not-have-realized-were-once-abercro?utm_term=.loMkJrkMb#.uwA4kL4n5