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Abercrombie and Fitch CEO and the subsequent Hashtag " Fitch The Homeless"
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I agree with what you're saying, but I think, instead of focusing energy on making better advertising, we should be teaching kids that advertising is bullshit. Even if we made better ads, giving ads that legitimacy to affect how we feel is dangerous.
I didn't say "force", I said "enforce" and "exploit". A&F didn't create eating disorders and self-damaging body image standards. But they are exploiting them for profit and being rudely open about it like it's a point of pride for them to prey on the sick.
Cool.
I think that this is a subtle form of victim blaming. We shouldn't be looking to excuse preditation.
How is attempting to create a brand via exclusivity predation? It's like the exact opposite, you are excluding people aka NOT having them as customers.
If you are really looking at harm done to the population as a whole, I'd say all the vanity sizes are way worse. My GF hasn't gotten larger or smaller in the last 6 years, but she's went from being an M at most stores, to buying XS at some department stores. The difference in size in old medium(now XS) and new medium(old L/XL?), is probably about the same difference between a health weight and obese.
You see the same thing in mensware with "Slim Fit", aka the old fit. And 'Regular fit', for those of us toting a keg around. I'm sure if someone looked at it those waist "inches" have been getting subtly larger as well.
http://www.economist.com/node/21552262
So are A&Fs W-Larges the size of another stores small because they are the size of a small? Or because other stores smalls are now the size of larges?
e:
here has an interesting explaination on why this is happening. http://www.vanitysizing.com/archive/interview-why-have-retailers-changed-clothing-sizes/
The issue is that he was just being a dick.
Newsflash: Capitalist enterprise doesn't magically protect you from the ramifications of being a huge dick.
"There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, as Heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it would be an unqualified blessing." -- Andrew Jackson
there's a universe of difference between the image of the the "cool kids" and the image of "people who think of themselves as the cool kids". a&f doesn't want to be associated with the latter. it's never cool to be "inauthentic" or to be seen to be trying too hard.
You're about as well versed on the problems facing the homeless as you are on capitalism.
Link?
My understanding is that some chucklefuck at Business Insider walked into an Abercrombie and noticed a lack of Women's XL. They then contacted a "business analyst" not associated with the company who provided a "no fatty's" quote and dredged up the ancient interview. The business Insider article was then place died by douchebag website elite daily (that some people in chat inexplicably read) and the whole thing went viral.
What recent thing has The company or CEO said about their Douchey lifestyle branding?
#FreeScheck
#FreeSKFM
I bet no one will buy it now.
Oh, good. When I read the OP I thought some well-meaning goose was funneling the money right back at the guy he was mad at.
But his primary goal was to rag on A&F. Which is fine. That his primary goal could also help the homeless is also a good thing.
My understanding is actually that they've been in secular decline for awhile now as the 'cool kids' have fled them for being old, and have only manged to buoy themselves up by creating new shell brands on the same cheap cloth 2 stores down. H&M is eating their lunch. Along with most other fast fashion retailers.
Which is why clothing should be standardized to be labelled by in/cm instead of letters/random number groups. The sizing will still be different based on the model and where the proposed waist line/gather/boning/whatever is meant to sit, but you can at least have an idea of what they're talking about before putting the damn thing on. Also, I'd be able to buy my girlfriend something with at least a little bit of confidence.
In the end, fashion is generally about image and branding, with a big helping of exclusivity (perceived or real). What exactly do you think the difference is between a $1700 Prada pump and a $298 Cole Haan pump, technically speaking? It's not comfort or quality, that's for damn certain. ItI don't find it surprising A&F is sticking to their status quo here. They have the image that goes with their brand, and that's just about the only thing they have. They are replaceable in literally every other aspect.
But yeah. They should drop all that. Would totally go well for them.
It is more in how they present their reasons for not making plus sized clothing. When you target teenagers and you hang your marketing on the rather dangerous hook of body image issues, you are in some part playing into the massive anorexia / bulimia / body image issues in this country. And that is bullshit.
H&M manages to sell skinny clothes to skinny people without causing this kind of upset or rage.
A&F was cool back when I was in school, and I've still got a couple pairs of cargo shorts that have held out extremely well after a decade - decade and a half. Of course, a $70 pair of shorts damn well better last for a while.
I'm pretty sure it's hard to be the 'cool thing' appealing to today's teens when dads in their mid-30's stopped wearing most of their A&F branded stuff years ago because they didn't want to look stupid. I'm pretty sure that if I had a teenager, just telling them 'that's what I thought was cool when I was in school' would keep them from ever buying a $45 t-shirt there.
And man that store fucking stinks. Just walking by it the last time I went to the mall made me want to throw up. As expensive as they are, their cologne smells like ass + skunk.
/get off my lawn
My Artist Corner Thread
You do remember the Lagerfield incident, right?
Yeah, regardless of how I feel about their clothes, A&F is a terrible store. I have a friend who is really tiny and shops there, and I will generally go in with her and tell her how stuff looks, but at some point the cologne starts to get to me, and I have to get some fresh air for a while. One time, while I was out front attempting to clear my sinuses, a group of middle aged women started touching the shirtless model out front who proceeded to freak out. It only took about three seconds for security guards to grab them and get them away. I asked the model, and apparently it's pretty common.
Also, I'm a bit surprised by the longevity that A&F has already experienced. I remember their clothes being popular when I was in high school about 15 years ago.