The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie: Fashion Intern’s Thoughts

I recently watched the Netflix documentary, White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, released on April 19th. I was a young teen during the rise and fall of Abercrombie, so I was excited to see Netflix’s perspective on the fashion company. I remember being thirteen and walking by Abercrombie and Fitch and thinking it was the coolest store in the mall. It was one of those stores like Victoria’s Secret Pink where you wanted to go inside but were embarrassed to bring your parents in for fear of what they would think. The documentary did not touch on this, but I think that part of the reason why Abercrombie and Fitch was so attractive to young teens was that it was so anti-adult. Walking into the store felt like somewhere so far removed from where your parents would shop or enjoy going so it made you feel special. Thinking back on it, I cannot remember a distinct reason or time when Abercrombie and Fitch fell in popularity, I just remember one day in high school high-waisted jeans were considered trendy and the signature low-waisted Abercrombie jeans and dark stores were not. The documentary opened my eyes to what really happened and only now, at twenty-two do I really understand what went wrong.

I was blown away by the huge focus that the documentary placed on marketing and Abercrombie’s brand image rather than the actual clothing. I never really understood marketing until I went to business school and experienced first-hand the rise of influencer marketing. After watching the documentary I understood how Abercrombie and Fitch was able to market itself so well that the clothes it sold were more of a second thought. People would buy whatever Abercrombie and Fitch released, just to be part of an exclusive club. This was the start of influencer marketing before there was social media. The documentary really didn’t touch on the majority of clothes that Abercrombie & Fitch sold, just a few controversial t-shirts. When I was a young teen I didn’t even know Abercrombie made controversial t-shirts or had anything controversial going on. This makes me wonder if my parents knew anything about what was going on with the company or what older people thought at the time.

One of the most controversial things about Abercrombie and Fitch was its size exclusivity. As a fashion buying intern, this idea of size exclusivity is something I have thought about a lot after watching the documentary. The current company I work for buys the majority of its products in a small because this is the most popular size that is guaranteed to sell the best. As a business, you want to buy products that will generate the most revenue. The documentary stated that Abercrombie did not want to sell XL or XXL products because it only wanted attractive people wearing its clothes, but was it also a strategic business move? Abercombie now sells a wider range of sizes; however, looking at data from Edited, a retail market intelligence platform, Abercrombies best selling sizes are still extra-small and small. As a tall girl, I have always found shopping for skirts or dresses harder than it would be for an average height girl. Thinking about looking through racks and racks of clothes for a skirt which was not an extremely short miniskirt sometimes turned me away from shopping altogether. I wonder if larger-sized consumers feel the same way about shopping and maybe small-sized people just buy more? I understand how it is harsh for a brand to only make products in a certain size range, but Abercrombie and Fitch were making so much revenue it would have seemed odd to change its strategy when it was performing so well. Selling in a wide range of sizes is more expensive for fashion companies and does buying in more sizes really improve the business?

I have walked by the Abercrombie and Fitch store on Regents street in London but have never gone inside. Abercrombie seems to be making a slow comeback with its jeans increasing in popularity and its leather pants being mentioned on TikTok. I have not entered an Abercrombie and Fitch store since I was a teenager, but watching the documentary has made me want to pop in the next time I am on Regents street to see what it is like. Scrolling through the Abercrombie and Fitch website, I spotted a few cute summer styles, but feeling the quality in-store is the ultimate test to see if Abercrombie and Fitch will pass my test. After the re-vamp of the Abercrombie and Fitch stores, I am curious to see if anything sets the store apart, or if it’s just another basic, fast fashion, high street brand.

XO, Alicia