Guest Blogger 
Yes, I have seen the article. Read the story, and have pondered this fiasco…. You see, I completely missed the memo that Abercrombie & Fitch was the place where only the “beautiful people” were allowed to shop.
And even if you think you’re beautiful, that doesn’t mean you fit their criteria of beautiful. The CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, was quoted in an interview with Salon magazine as saying, “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 can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”
Um…….*Inserts Blank Stare*
He goes on to say that, “including everyone would make his business boring.”
Word?
Let me get this straight. It’s somehow boring to offer the same exact stuff you already sell, but in more sizes.
Cue my side eye.
If anything, it makes your business more interesting and brings in more revenue. Forget that the plus-sized women’s apparel market generated “approximately $13.9 billion in annual retail sales for the year ended March 2013″ as shared in this fabulous rebuttal to this ignorance. But, I digress.
Not only is he discriminating against larger people, but also against people who aren’t considered popular or cool. I mean, I didn’t know the movie Mean Girls was based on Abercrombie and Fitch’s corporate office. I mean really. What message is this sending to the young impressionable teenagers you target with your blonde, blue-eyed, half-naked models?
And don’t even get me started on the discrimination against minorities and the disabled. Several ex-employees have filed discrimination lawsuits against them. Seriously, I haven’t shopped in Abercrombie since I was in high school and only started to because of a LFO song (yes I just admitted that), but I definitely would never shop there again if I could fit into their clothes. And, I shall judge those that continue to shop there knowing how they feel.
I hope there is a boycott of that store (I hear there is a walk in scheduled?). How dare he have the audacity to imply any woman over a size 10 is not beautiful? How dare he say that we aren’t worthy of being seen in his clothes or in his store? Ignorance like this is unfortunately all too common. There are a lot of other people in the fashion industry, and in the world in general, that feel the same way as he; they just don’t have the nerve to be as outspoken about it (except Karl Lagerfeld of course).
I’m happy to see that more retailers are adding plus sizes to their lines and featuring plus size models in their advertising (good start H&M) but we. have. a. long. way. to. go. The average woman in America is a size 12-14 and its about time fashion retailers accepted this and catered to all women, not just those smaller than a size 12.
Read the full story here
Have you ever shopped at Abercrombie? Do you have friends who currently do? Will you be encouraging them to boycott this retailer? I’d like to hear your thoughts.
Image Credit: Fstoppers
