Yesterday, while scrolling through Facebook, I came across a link to this article. The article is on why CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t like fat people, and why he won’t sell above an American size 10 (that’s a size 14 to my UK readers) in his stores. Obviously, this caused an outrage. But it also didn’t surprise me at all. This is the brand that brought us Gilly Hicks, an underwear store that won’t stock above a C cup in bras. This is the brand that has caused global outrage for a multitude of sins. This is a brand which prides appearance above all else. The ironic thing is, the ways in which it put’s good looks on a pedestal, is pretty damn ugly. This article that was published was the final straw in terms of the ridiculous, offensive, behavior.
It’s pretty obvious that all Abercrombie care about is looks. They openly admit they will only hire good looking people. This is the brand that charges muscular, toned men to stand by the doors of their stores while tons of teenage girls run up to them screaming. I walk past the Hollister or the Gilly Hicks in Cardiff to regularly see a poor bloke stood there with no top on, absolutely freezing. And he looks so awkward, because how do you stand when you are freezing cold, with no top on, in public? It’s awkward. It’s weird. And above all, it’s pretty sexist. When we said we wanted gender equality we didn’t mean for men to be objectified TOO guys. Like, that’s not how it’s done. It’s not just the guys either, the girls working in the shop have to be a certain ‘look’ too. That’s the thing, how do you define good looking? Take me, at a uk size 6-8 I’m not fat. I don’t have some sort of deformed face either. But I would never get a job in these stores. Why? Well i’m not tall, i’m not blonde/brunette (my hairs dyed purple), I don’t have those classic beach waves... oh and also... I HAVE AN ASS!! Because if Abercrombie and Fitch hate anything, it’s curves. I mean, yeah that’s clear with their ‘no fat policy’, but like I said above, Gilly Hicks don’t stock above a C. A C. A D cup is a pretty regular size. But no. If, like me, you don’t have massive breasts, but your size differs from a C to a D in different stores, you won’t find any luck here. I tried on a C in Gilly Hicks. I had overspill. Considering my boobs aren’t big in the slightest, I almost find this impressive.
When it comes to their employees, unfortunately, the story gets a little darker than skinny blonde girls and muscular tanned boys giving it all they’ve got to look good, only to discover the shop is too dark for them to be seen anyway. You might remember the story of the shop assistant who didn’t have an arm. She was told to work in the stock room, where she wouldn’t be seen by customers. Isn’t that shocking? (P.S. that particular link is to an article on Jezabel which also tells of an incredibly underweight, anorexic girl who was employed for the brand for having 'the look') There’s also the story of an employee who was told to remove her remembrance day poppy, because it didn’t go with the brands aesthetic. Apparently, remembering the dead is SO UNCOOL NOW.
These guys have the perfect 'look' for the imperfect brand.
Or maybe it’s time that the Abercrombie brand faced the fact that maybe it’s them that’s uncool? At least, they're not cool to me. Because I don’t dig shops that are so pretentious, they have to pretend to be beach-houses rather than actual shops, shops that are so dark inside, customers have actually complained of getting lost (that still makes me laugh). I don’t dig objectification of bodies, whether they be male or female. I don’t dig a business that does business purely based on a certain look. I don’t dig a business that discriminates against the disabled. And now i need to stop saying the word dig, because that’s seriously uncool.
Of course, anyone who reads this who works for the brand, who likes the brand, whatever, will just laugh, because they’ll still make their millions. Of course they will. For some unknown reason people love paying £30 for a t-shirt that cost approx 2p to make, with the word ‘Hollister’ emblazoned across the front. For some ungodly reason, that is seen as fashionable. I don’t see that as fashion at all. I see it as a t-shirt. With a word on it. That’s it. A walking brand. A massive advert. And I think it'd be wrong to write all this and pretend I've never purchased anything from them. I bought a Hollister bikini once. I bought it back a couple of years ago, when I didn't hold these opinions, because I didn't know what a god-awful brand they were. I am proud to say though, that even then, I still didn't like the tops that just said Hollister on them .And now, I don't believe I would ever shop in there again, because as a brand,their ethics genuinely disgust me.
Abercrombie CEO ain't a looker himself though is he? Overcompensating are we Mike Jefferies?
Reading over some of the articles again to write this article has actually made my blood boil. Lot's of companies have questionable ethics, but the Abercrombie & Fitch brand is something else. They claim to be 'all American'. Aren't Americans supposed to be free, forward thinking individuals? If you're as shocked as I am by their ethics, you'd boycott the brand, just as I intend to do.
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