Abercrombie & Fitch

[designerlizard]

i don't get why everyone is basing abercrombie so much? its a brand, just like dior, bcbg, gucci, d&g and you prefer to wear that...i prefer to wear this. this is so elitest of this board, so abercrombie is a status symbol for some. what about all of you that carry around your birkin? you honestly bought it because it looks nice? frankly, its one of the more ugly purses i have seen in my life, i would take a paddington way before that.

its not that people aren't educated in fashion are the ones who wear it, but i'm not going to be one of those tacky idiots who shows up for a lab wearing heels, skinny jeans and like sparky sequin top.

wow this whole topic just pissed me off. i don't even have an abercrombie where i live, i go over to the states once a month to shop there.

this is the most stuck up topic there possibly is.

 

[reese06]

I'm definitely educated in fashion and I wear Abercrombie at times. I don't wear it to be considered at times. Sometimes I do like their sweaters, polos or whatever else.

 

[Marquischacha]

How can anyone work at their stores with the blaring music? Christ when I pass by the front I can feel the rumble from the cheesy techno music being piped through their p.a.

 

[visconti]

i don't get why everyone is basing abercrombie so much? its a brand, just like dior, bcbg, gucci, d&g and you prefer to wear that...i prefer to wear this. this is so elitest of this board, so abercrombie is a status symbol for some. what about all of you that carry around your birkin? you honestly bought it because it looks nice? frankly, its one of the more ugly purses i have seen in my life, i would take a paddington way before that.

its not that people aren't educated in fashion are the ones who wear it, but i'm not going to be one of those tacky idiots who shows up for a lab wearing heels, skinny jeans and like sparky sequin top.

wow this whole topic just pissed me off. i don't even have an abercrombie where i live, i go over to the states once a month to shop there.

this is the most stuck up topic there possibly is.

People aren't trying to be elitist. They're just commenting on the fact that A&F is so ubiquitous , but never evolves. I'm not a big fan of the other brands that you mentioned, but at least one season is distinquishable from the last. Like D&G women's. They had an all white winter runway show and followed it with a dark + dayglo spring collection with S&M heels. The relative merit of either show is up for argument, but at least there's some change.

If Abercrombie offered truly "classic pieces" it would be a partially different story, but it's more or less the same bland stuff that all of their competitors sell. I see stores like Gap as go-to spots for seasonless basics. This is fine. Admirable even. The difference between the stores revolves around the same elitist tendancies that you're lashing out against. A&F is no more than a "basics" brand too-- but less practical because they offer so few colors-- but they push the "lifestyle" aspect. So, rather than being another store where you grab a sweater or tee on occasion it has grown into this whole culture. As has been said- brilliant marketing, but there's a darker side.

in re: the Birkin bag

There's no doubt that people buy it as a status symbol, but Hermes acheived that position because of quality/craftsmanship. I don't happen to care for their offerings either, but there's no use denying that they're made to exacting standards and are arguably worth the investment.

I'm not sure what point your second paragraph was making. Are there really only two options to wear to lab? completely inappropriate sequin/trendy tops or overpriced moose logo polos and hoodies? There should be (and probably is) a middle ground there.


Thanks to all who filled me in about Reuhl. It's amusing to think that they're slipping closer and closer to their parent brand. Is it really that difficult to create seperate identities for these lines?

 

[Yanka]

Abercrombie came to london.

 

[Guessgirl96]

great post, visconti.

I agree with whoever said they play load music. I shopped at abercrombie and Guess when I was 11-13 and I remember the music being to load I basically had to shout to the sales people.

 

[homeboy]

They play really loud music. I noticed that too the first time i was in an AF store two months ago. the music was really blazin. The brand is bound to fail in Europe. their clothes look really great in their pictures on the website but reality is different.
Their stripped polos are made of T-shirt material and the plain coloured ones have a vintage look making them apprear as if they have been washed 20 times. Although RL's products are a tad bit more expensive, they are a much better choice.

 

[ModelsRMyLife]

I work at a&f which is prob why im used to the music.

 

[anro]

this is such a good and valid discussion that has developed...but i am afraid it's not going to help hotpinky with his article...

i love both sides of this argument...if you can call it that...
i experience this very directly every day of my life...the one year that i really tried to conform and got a job at a mainstream american magazine almost killed me...literally...i fell into a very deep depression and saw no way out...even though it would have been just so easy to quit...somehow it always seems impossible when you are in it...

i live in the margins...and i fight for my individuality...but there is that part of me that knows that i will never be part of a certain group...i don't like them and they don't like me...and that's is the way it will always be... i sometimes wish to be part of a group...but usually it's more like 'groups'...because i have such a wide array of interests...i have many different people in my life who fulfill different roles...

helena...i wish it was as easy as buying a sweatshirt...but the truth is...if that sweatshirt does not express who you really are...then you are not really being accepted by the group..and in your heart you will always know this and you will always feel that emptiness... better to be yourself and let other likeminded people find you...then you will feel truly loved...IMHO...

just look at how we have found each other here at tfs...

This was so nicely put!

 

[marqueemoon]

I thought A&F was past its heyday, so I was surprised (and disappointed) to read they're still going strong. Bascially, they represent everything I hate in the world. No seriously. I loathe the type of person they glorify and the type of people who regularly shop there. I've spent enough of my life trying to avoid self-satisfied assholes like that.

These quotes from their CEO tell you everything you need to know:
"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."

"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."



They seem like the corporate equivalent of the school bully.

 

[dior_couture1245]

They seem like the corporate equivalent of the school bully.

Too true. I used to be obsessed with A&F....I look back on those days with disgust!

 

[ModelsRMyLife]

why do you all hate a&f so much? Im just wondering.

 

[AudiEC]

Oh, but how could we not...

Well for me Abercrombie brings back bad middle school memories. I remember wanting an Abercrombie shirt so much, thinking that it would be my ticket to popularity and fun. Why? It was nothing but a couple of letters plastered on a shirt. My parents wouldn't have been willing to buy me $30 shirts at the time, so for me it represented an unattainable lifestyle of casual wealth.

Now that I look back on those days, I'm glad I didn't, or couldn't conform to something that was essentially insignificant. Recently a guy I was with forced me into an A&F for the first time. I bought a grey polo and cargo pants.

That's my favorite polo, it fits me well and is well-made.

 

[J.Shi]

These quotes from their CEO tell you everything you need to know:
"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."

"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."

That's.kind of mean..

 

[Deleted member 7575]

the music that they blast in their stores,

it's all synced with their offices, they PLAY IT IN THEIR OFFICES!!!!

 

[Fabulyss]

^But designerlizerd does have a point in that A&F is NOT the only store to be so Elitist. I mean, christ I get shotty looks everytime I dare step foot inside a Barney's. As if I'm supposed to wear heels for the duration of my shopping sprees? I'm a college student! But I digress...


I wore A&F a LOT in middle school (never in high school), but at some point their tank tops got skimpier, their size small got microscopic, and their models wore even less clothing. I haven't worn it in 10 years b/c I now hate the clothing and the general lifestyle they celebrate. But one must admit, many a year ago it was a much much less offensive brand.

Plus that rare interview with the American-Psycho-CEO posted a while back truly truly disturbed me.

 

[Diorling]

^But designerlizerd does have a point in that A&F is NOT the only store to be so Elitist. I mean, christ I get shotty looks everytime I dare step foot inside a Barney's. As if I'm supposed to wear heels for the duration of my shopping sprees? I'm a college student! But I digress...

Point, but hey, they may be snooty at Barneys but they can back it up w/ hot merchandise...

I popped into A&F the other day, god, that was scary. The place on 5th Avenue was PACKED, I mean...PACK, the whole store was vibrating. I dont understand how that is cool, this is about to sound really bad, but I guess for people who dont get out much, A&F is like...Glamorous. They think b/c it has loud music and dark decor it's like...the height of sophsitcation or something...I really dont know...The A&F customer definately isn't very well rounded...

Whatever...I do like the way thier polos fit, I even love how the tape the inside w/ velvet, but...That DAMN MOOSE. That moose brings such connotations up...It's terrifying.

 

[kikidior]

^

Abercrombie came to london.

... from bohos to polos? i don't think so ... anyway, the items they sell are so generic ... their customers look very similar and their aesthetic is just not personally appealing.

 

[ModelsRMyLife]

How can anyone work at their stores with the blaring music? Christ when I pass by the front I can feel the rumble from the cheesy techno music being piped through their p.a.

You just get used to it. It actually feels really weird when its not loud? My co-workers and I just look at each other and think: hmm somethings wrong haha.

 

[marsmars]

I dont understand how that is cool, this is about to sound really bad, but I guess for people who dont get out much, A&F is like...Glamorous. They think b/c it has loud music and dark decor it's like...the height of sophsitcation or something...I really dont know...The A&F customer definately isn't very well rounded...

Whatever...I do like the way thier polos fit, I even love how the tape the inside w/ velvet, but...That DAMN MOOSE. That moose brings such connotations up...It's terrifying.

My thoughts exactly, Diorling.

Abercrombie & Fitch is like Studio 54 for middle-class America.