“I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch. I’d take her if I had one wish. But she’s been gone since that summer.” – LFO
Retail clothing chain Abercrombie & Fitch will end by July its “sexualised marketing,” after years of blanketing its websites, store windows, and shopping bags with photos of half-naked men, according to the Washington Post.
Abercrombie & Fitch store opening in Singapore, 2011 (Source: ibtimes)
Abercrombie & Fitch, known for its controversial ad campaigns featuring semi-nude models, said that it will also stop using shirtless models or lifeguards at events and store openings for both the Abercrombie & Fitch and the Hollister brands, the newspaper reported late Friday, citing an announcement.
Rather than call its staff “models”, the teen-focused retailer will refer to employees as “brand representatives,” and it will no longer hire workers based on “body type or physical attractiveness” as well.
The brand had come under fire in recent years for its strict dress code and sexualised marketing, and has been in a Supreme Court case for denying a Muslim woman named Samantha Elauf a job because of her head scarf. According to Daily Mail, Samantha was 17 years old when she interviewed for a “model” position, as the company calls its sales staff, at an Abercrombie Kids store in a shopping mall in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2008.
Abercrombie & Fitch store opening in Singapore, 2011 (Source: Getty Images)
She never explicitly voiced her religious views or her need to wear a headscarf but the assistant store manager correctly assumed she was a Muslim. She impressed the assistant store manager, who then consulted a manager and explained that she thought Samantha wore the scarf for religious reasons – but the manager said the headscarf wasn’t permitted even if it was worn because of Samantha’s religion, according to the suit.
She now works for Urban Outfitters and also runs a fashion blog.
On top of that, in 2011, a CNN report stated that the brand was chastised for an oversized advertisement plastered on the Orchard storefront in Singapore, featuring a topless man with a 6-pack and jeans slung way down low.
A billboard plastered over Abercrombie & Fitch Singapore’s storefront (Source: nytimes.com)
The changes come as the company faces slumping sales, as teens increasingly move away from the brand, according to the Washington Post.