Like Many Other Big-Brand Names, Abercrombie & Fitch Has Pivoted its Marketing Techniques

readBy Gil Alon

Arts Reporter

Abercrombie & Fitch recently remodeled their brand, and this change should be celebrated. Based on an entire movement perpetuated by customers, the company has shifted their style to become more body positive.   

Abercrombie is known for its half-naked models littering the walls of their stores and bags, as well as for their hyper-sexualized store employees. The store’s atmosphere of young and sexy workers marginalizes different consumers. Personally, I have shopped at Abercrombie Kids when no other store catered to my short height in middle school, but Abercrombie & Fitch was always intimidating.

Walking in and seeing the half-naked models on the walls and the judgement of the employees made me feel unwelcomed, as I did not fit their body type. I was too short, too small, and too young to be in their fitting rooms. I was constantly reminded of how my body was wrong, as I did not match the pictures on the wall.

Now, however, the atmosphere has completely transformed. The walls show pictures of real people wearing their clothes, the bags do not display six-pack abs, and the employees look like real people. The hyper-sexualized and exclusive society that Abercrombie portrayed has been stripped down to a more welcoming store atmosphere.  

When entering the store, I feel less judged and more accepted, as I’m not being stared down by the “perfect” models. The store now brings the idea that the clothes are their main focus– not the body types of their customers.

This new transition not only benefits customers, it also benefits the brand, as sales have greatly increased– the company is repairing a broken reputation.

Abercrombie was hiding behind the “sex sells” motto instead of finding their own ethos. With this new approach, the store is focusing on the clothes they are selling and who will buy them, building a brand. Instead of just wanting the “popular and hot” kids to buy their clothes, Abercrombie has reached out to a wider audience.

More importantly, Abercrombie listened to the calls of its customers and stepped up to do the right thing. The demands of its customers to change the brand resulted in real action.

Abercrombie has finally begun to respect their customers. As the brand evolves, it’s moving towards the customers needs, giving Abercrombie lifetime loyalty from consumers.

This transition is only a piece of the body acceptance culture that is taking over the clothing industry. Finally, Abercrombie has now opened its eyes to the successes of its competitors.

The Aerie brand is the largest success story of this movement. The brand’s decision to use models that match real life women surged the brand’s sales. Around the nation, women and girls spoke of how beautifully refreshing it is to relate more to the models on the website or at the store.

These movements are the first step in a larger effort to have stores reflect who we are. The fashion industry is in an important position, as it controls what is loved and considered trendy in society. The views that women have of themselves are greatly influenced by the advertisements they see in the media.

Abercrombie is such an important addition to this movement, as the store is the representation of sexual advertisements. The sexualization was so integral and deep into the brand that many did not believe Abercrombie could survive without it.

With Abercrombie’s success in transforming their brand, they illustrate that it is possible for every brand to change– and that objectifying young women and men is not the solution. I hope their successful transformation will spur other brands to take a part of this movement.

These stores are increasing the self-esteem of young girls shopping at these stores, which is important because many of these adolescent girl’s self esteems are plummeting as they hit puberty. Thus, if these stores can increase body positive messages, they will benefit the most the majority of the population.

As someone who felt judged and too intimidated to walk into an Abercrombie & Fitch store, the change should be celebrated, and thus other stores should follow in suit, providing body positive images to girls who just want to feel confident in the clothes they wear.

After all, if you feel beautiful, you look beautiful.