The concept of what is beautiful is different in every culture, but businesses tend to cater to all, whether large or petite. CEO Mike Jeffries of Abercrombie & Fitch, however, has made it clear through his actions and words that his clothing is for the smaller of sizes.
In the store Abercrombie & Fitch the largest size offered is a size 10, which is roughly 31 inches in pant sizes.
This discourages larger sized customers from shopping, and Mike Jeffries’, CEO of Abercrombie, statement only discourages them more when he stated, “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 don’t belong.”
So, what makes a “cool kid”?
Going by Jeffries’ standards, this is someone who is thin, attractive, and popular. He wants to sell to the people he finds attractive, and, ultimately, inspire others to purchase his clothing.
To say that Jeffries’ statement irritates me is an understatement. What he said has undoubtedly made countless teens feel worthless for not being the slim, popular, tanned and overall ‘all-American youth’ that Abercrombie targets.
Really, the only reason that I can see that Abercrombie is making so much money is because it is so expensive. One pair of jeans is $88, and one shirt is $30. The vast majority of American teens are not what Jeffries perceives them to be, and it is unrealistic to think they are, so why sell only to them?
What annoys me even more is that when addressing this issue, he claims that the quote was taken out of context, and he regrets his ‘choice of words.’ I cannot see how his statement could be taken in an inoffensive way, and I do not understand how he can try to justify what he said. It also doesn’t help his case that not a size above 10 is found in his stores.
In an article on Forbes.com, Jeffries claims, “A&F is an aspirational brand that, like most specialty apparel brands, targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers. However, we care about the broader communities in which we operate and are strongly committed to diversity and inclusion.” It is also said that there would be a meeting to discuss including larger sizes. But, there has yet to be a change.
Will there be a change? Or will Jeffries continue to cater to the slim and “attractive,” and claim otherwise?
What exactly counts as attractive? Who decides what is attractive and what is ugly?
Nobody gets to decide what attractive is or means. So the fact that Jeffries is trying to push his idea of beauty onto youths, who for the most part cannot fulfill his standards and in the end feel bad about it because they can’t wear the ‘coolest clothes,’ disgusts me.
If you like Abercrombie & Fitch or Hollister, that’s completely fine.I have no problems at all with the designs of the clothing. But I do have a problem with the complete bias to only one type of person and body type in his marketing and advertisements. I have a problem with him only selling to those who fits his standards.
Why should we support this? Until we see a change, we shouldn’t support this kind of advertisement, the kind that says that only size 10 and under is attractive, and if you’re above, then you should find a different store. What Jeffries said was disgusting and should not be taken lightly because he is basing a business off of unrealistic illusions.
