Abercrombie & Fitch AKA A&F
[related: Ernest Hemmingway]
Clothier founded in 1892 as an outfitter for outdoor adventurists. Abercrombie & Fitch, or simply A&F, first came into prominence based on the quality of its sporting and excursion goods, including fishing equipment, fishing boats, expensive shotguns and rifles, and tents. Early brand acolytes included Theodore Roosevelt [1] and Adm. Richard E. Byrd [2]. American expatriate author Ernest Hemmingway [3] committed suicide with one of the company's guns in 1961, causing A&F's revenue to decline precipitously. The company eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1976.
The brand toiled in the backwaters of the mail-order novelty hunting catalog world until eventually being purchased in the early 1990's by the brash and chauvinistic entrepreneur Mike Jeffries. Jefferies quickly and aggressively rebranded A&F, targeting hot-to-trot teens [4]. Throughout Jeffries' tenure, the company actively courted controversy. Shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Wong Brothers Laundry Service - Two Wongs Can Make It White" alongside grinning Asian figures in conical hats triggered rolling boycotts in and around California's Bay Area. Thong underwear marketed to pre-teens carrying the phrases "eye candy" and "wink wink" also created significant blowback (and robust sales). Following the launch of a tight t-shirt line displaying the messages "who needs brain when you have these" and "I had a nightmare I was a brunette", the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania launched a highly publicized and (to the company) financially beneficial "girlcott". A&F's pioneering use of "brand representatives" [5], though controversial at the time, has become industry standard in the mid-fashion industry.
- ↑ Use: Safari Adventures.
- ↑ Use: Antarctic Expedition(s).
- ↑ Hemmingway's wife placed his extensive arsenal of A&F branded munitions on consignment with the company following his suicide - a collection now estimated to be worth over two million dollars.
- ↑ Said Jefferies: "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. ... 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."
- ↑ A practice involving the hiring of attractive, often shirtless or lightly clothed teens to simply commingle in the store. Separate "folders" were hired to conduct each branch's logistical tasks at a much lower hourly rate. Company policy directed brand representatives to avoid interacting with both store clientele and "folders", especially in cases involving braces, "muffin tops", or poor complexion.