Why I Started Shopping at Abercrombie Again
If you close your eyes as you enter an Abercrombie & Fitch retail shop, it is like stepping back in time to middle faculty. The same cologne from the 2000s, Fierce, permeates the retailer, accented by the Intense scented hand sanitizer extra throughout the pandemic.
Nevertheless, when you open your eyes, the retailer has completely adjusted. They have been transformed and the dresses within no longer showcase the brand name title or the embroidered minor moose mascot emblem. Abercrombie & Fitch’s walls are no longer plastered with much larger-than-existence photos of male torsos and slim products managing on the beach. The merchants skew towards an older demographic, the off-duty millennial. The persons who as soon as hated Abercrombie the most are now the ones who begrudgingly store there now.
As a lanky twelve-12 months-previous lady, procuring in Abercrombie & Fitch often built me truly feel “fat” given that the premier women’s jean dimensions was a 10. Back then, Abercrombie ads had been the reverse of inclusive, showcasing white, slender, blond designs with a preppy type. Their clothing ended up about fitting in, and as an Asian American, I in no way matched any of the versions.
Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries had a extremely distinct graphic in head for the manufacturer. As Jeffries explained to Salon in 2006, “We want to current market to amazing, good-hunting people… In every university there are the interesting and well-known young ones, and then there are the not-so-cool young ones. Candidly, we go right after the neat kids…Are we exclusionary? Totally.”
This distinct eyesight in mind fought versus the alterations in American society of the final decade. As social media and American society shifted in the direction of a much more inclusive landscape, Abercrombie & Fitch’s “vision” just did not match anymore. The as soon as trendy brand name for the “cool and popular” was forged out and for yrs, I didn’t even go into an Abercrombie shop.
When Jeffries retired in 2014, Fran Horowitz took in excess of and moved the brand name in a new direction. Gone are the logos, the navy blue outfits and the dark and loud retail outlet environments. Now, the outlets and the apparel are similarly light and airy. Black articles of clothing exist on the racks and the outfits itself is far more understated.
Abercrombie’s most recent adjustments have concentrated on additional modern day staples for folks in their early twenties. And, they offer extended measurements, lengths and unique suits. As an individual with a big difference in between my midsection and hip measurements, jeans under no circumstances rather in shape me correct. Abercrombie’s Curve Like line suggests a waist hole is a detail of the past.
With the pandemic and the accompanying bodyweight achieve, I experienced to rely on on the web shopping to replenish my closet. Using a tape measure and the dimensions charts on line, I picked up a couple of diverse articles or blog posts of clothing from various brands, but the finest-fitting denim will come from Abercrombie — my new favored. Their Curve Really like line also presents a several diverse swimsuits, which I acknowledge healthy substantially improved than any other swimsuits I’ve owned in decades.
The new elegant outfits Abercrombie carries together with the wider assortment of sizes have produced me drop in really like with the new Abercrombie & Fitch. While my wardrobe has not bundled Abercrombie in many years, it is tricky for me to decide on an outfit devoid of a piece from Abercrombie these times. As a remaining issue, undoubtedly be part of their benefits software for the reason that individuals reductions are stackable, so you know I’ll be browsing there each time.
