Abercrombie Who?

Abercrombie & Fitch are an American casual wear brand aimed at 18-22 year olds male and females, and is best described as the sort of clothes the typical American college student would wear around campus. However the brand couldn't stray further than that of the 'all-American' girl and boy. They are never shy of a controversial story ranging from only employing seemingly good looking people, and around their sizing. The cast of Jersey Shore were paid not, yes PAID NOT to wear the brand because they didn't want their reputations from the show to affect the brand.

The CEO himself Mike Jeffries has said they want to cater to the 'thin and cool'; I smell a sense of alienation here. Sitting in the higher price bracket for their clothes, with jeans costing from £68-130, it still doesn't give the CEO the right to outrightly alienate potential customers.

One of their more recent controversies involves the squeaky clean American country singer Taylor Swift. They have produced a casual tee with the slogan '#More Boyfriends Than T.S' on. Yes Abercrombie, the initials really hide who you're referring to. However much this may be true, (all thinking it) it definitely did't tickle the popstar and her fans which complained so much to the brand were forced to pull the tees from the shelves. For one, I don't think a girl would want to boast about how many boyfriends she had in the first place, however even if I personally wouldn't wear it, it did rather amuse me.

It's acts like this that may put the brand at jeopardy. The young fresh faced American fans of Taylors may have been frequent buyers from the brand and because of this little stunt, may refuse to buy from them again. Even if it is a small percentage it's as good as any. This could mean that the brand is only good for the homeless.

The image above is from the blogger Jess Baker, who, after hearing Mike Jeffries latest comments about the brand has changed the logo to Attractive & Fat. I think this mock campaign is such a clever response to the CEO's potentially brand damaging comments. Even if this is the companies thoughts, he could of worded it better!? If A&F aren't careful we could be saying bye-bye to them very soon.