A&F Quarterly

[LilyBird]

I know there has been controversy around this publication, and I myself thought it was probably harmless until I saw it...

I don't think they market this as p*rn, but what do you think?

TO WARN YOU: It contains topless women, and sexual situations--though only breasts are showing---there are many strategically placed blankets and trees

A&F Quarterly

 

[lele]

the link does not work....

 

[Alejandro]

I was all exited about it

 

[LilyBird]

I hope this works:

http://www.othercrap.com/abercrombie.htm


sorry about that !

 

[AlmostFamous]

I dont see the big deal. You have to be 18 to purchase it. It isnt like anyone gets it if they spent $50 or more. No one is forcing anyone to buy the quarterly. If someone doesnt like whats in it, dont buy it. And if the models are comfortable posing topless, pantless, whatever..then who cares. Not to mention this is being shot by the one and only Bruce Weber! I like the pictures, this is the only thing out of abercrombie I do like.

The more controversy, the more publicity abercrombie gets. So, yeah...

 

[kellygirl]

so from my friends/acquaintances who have posed for b. weber for an AF shoot this is what i gather...

BW starts with a big crop of models for the shoot. he expects each one to be ready and willing to take their clothes off at a moment's notice and if you act uncomfortable/uncooperative at all you are immediately dismissed from the shoot. it's kind of like a survival of the fittest thing, last man standing etc. i guess the shoots start off with 5x the amount of models who actually end up in the catalog.

thought some of you might find that interesting?

 

[ignitioned32]

With those kinds of catalogs, who even thought A&F sold clothes?

 

[TheSweetest]

you know what? one day i saw a clip of A&F models REALLY making out on a couch as part of ad pictures, and right then i knew they were going to start taking things to far. Sure, sex sells, but dang! All all of that isn't even necessary!

 

[PrinceOfCats]

Maybe the reason their clothes are so bad is because they spend all their effort on making sub-mills & boon photgraphic erotica...

 

[Lena]

here is what i've found on this

Clothing company withdraws catalogue backing group sex
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
04 December 2003
Putting out a Christmas catalogue stuffed with naked young models having sex is a sure-fire way of attracting attention, which is no doubt what the US retail chain Abercrombie & Fitch was aiming for. But it does seem like an odd way of selling clothes.

Yesterday, the company - well known for courting controversy in its effort to become the defining label for suburban teenagers - was trying hard not to sound apologetic even as it pulled its "Christmas Field Guide", with its endorsements of orgies and group masturbation, from stores around the country.

Following an entirely predictable firestorm of indignation from conservative family groups, the company said it was taking the catalogue off the shelves - because it had a new line of perfume to market and needed the shelf space. The sex and "irreverence" would make a comeback, it promised, in the spring catalogue.

While conservatives fumed, marketing experts marvelled at the sheer audacity of Abercrombie & Fitch's strategy, which appeared aimed at appealing to the rebel it suspects lurks within its clean-cut, well-mannered teenage customers.

The catalogue, on sale for $7 (£4), featured so much naked flesh that the first item of clothing did not appear until page 122 of the 280-page volume. Among its images was a photograph of young men and women lying naked en masse beneath a Christmas tree. Alongside another image of 10 naked models was text discussing the possible varieties of group sex - "mixed-gender or same-sex, friendly or anonymous". And it added: "A pleasant and supersafe alternative to this is group masturbation."

While groups such as the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families have called for a boycott of Abercrombie & Fitch stores for purveying "soft p*rn", liberal and left-wing groups noted that the naked models were exclusively white and accused the company of continuing a pattern of racial discrimination.

Abercrombie & Fitch faces two class-action suits brought by black job applicants who allege they were turned down for shop assistant positions because their skin colour did not fit the company's image.

from the Independent UK

 

[tiffany]

I hate a&f there clothes are disgusting thats why they need "all american naked goodlooks" to compensate for that.
i don't ever remember an ethnic model in their catalogs.
blah they suck anyways

 

[CaptainJackSparrow]

great points people...and lena thanx for the article...i hate that people are still using sex to sell products...its all due to a lack in creativity in my opinion...eye catching at first, but now its just overblown and tacky...not to say i dont like looking at the photos its just, everything has its place....there needs to be more Vogue Alice in Wonderland spreads

 

[tealady]

I think this is a good example of the relationship between body image and fashion. A&F are selling body image AS fashion...

 

[AlmostFamous]

ITS NOT A CATALOGUE!!!!!!!!

Its called the A&F quarterly. Its a quarterly magazine. It has celeb interviews and such. Their catalogues are completely seperate, and everyone is fully clothed. I used to get it sent to my house so I could hang up the cute guys. But now the guys are all ugly.

 

[mikeijames]

i love the quarterly because it sells the image of abercrombie long before it sells the clothes...it's not just "all american good looks" it's selling a certain sexuality, a certain physicality, a certain lifestyle. we can all agree that abercrombie is not for everyone and even those who it is for (which i believe the core market is the highschool and college student), it is not to be worn everywhere. there are certain college campuses around this country that are populated with people who look like abercrombie models, behave like them, buy clothes like them: these quarterlies are aimed at them. i find it disgusting that a seven year old would have access to these quarterlies and that parents shift the blame from themselves to the company producing it.

if gucci or versace or any of the other houses produced publications of that size, you would find a similar emphasis on similar themes...my god, versace had that campaign not to long ago with the girl on a beach where everyone was naked...where was the uproar?

and a lot of these conservatives are not as worried about their children as they are their husbands.

 

[AlmostFamous]

Originally posted by mikeijames@Dec 6th, 2003 - 10:27 am
i find it disgusting that a seven year old would have access to these quarterlies and that parents shift the blame from themselves to the company producing it.

You must be 18 to buy the quarterly. Parents know what they are buying before hand. There is no grounds for anyone to complain. No one is forcing you to buy this thing.

 

[Lena]

or their wives

 

[Acid]

hey where are you hiding alejandro?

 

[Atelier]

Uninteresting photos from an uninteresting brand. The zealous look of frolic on the models' faces just makes it irrelevant. I'm all for nudity though.

And by the way, can we save the term "p*rn" for real, actual p*rn? Those actors and actresses put too much effort into their work for the mainstream to get mileage from that attention-grabbing word.

 

[Erin]

Originally posted by mikeijames@Dec 6th, 2003 - 9:27 am
it sells the image of abercrombie long before it sells the clothes...it's not just "all american good looks" it's selling a certain sexuality, a certain physicality, a certain lifestyle.

I completely agree. The quarterly is great at selling the image first...not necessarily sex, but rather - sexuality.

However, I don't think there is the need for all the nudity. I find that unattractive to see just people lying around naked in the magazine. I'm not afraid of nudity, but I think that for Abercrombie the look is too far fetched.