Theory & Philosophy of Visual Communication
Pawnee Maiden
Jamie Mahoney
May 3, 2015
Presentation Essay
My presentation was about casual luxury products, specifically Abercrombie and Fitch. When researching Abercrombie and Fitch I
learned a lot about the importance of marketing and advertising. Abercrombie and Fitch have had a lot of trouble with the media due
to their selectiveness. They have also received multiple lawsuits for not wanting kids that are not considered ”cool” to wear their brand
name. In this paper I will be discussing the background of the brand, how the brand is now, the expectations of the employees that work
there, recent controversy and how they plan to improve their brand moving forward. Some background about the brand included its
founders, David Thomas Abercrombie and Ezra Fitch. David Thomas Abercrombie was the original founder in the year of 1892 and
then Ezra Fitch later on in the 1900s bought into the company. For a couple years the two worked very well together and the company
was a huge success. Ezra had ideas about expanding the company to a wider audience making the clothes more affordable for the general
public but Abercrombie wanted the store to continue to remain an elite and exclusive high in corporation. So, for this reason Abercrombie
decided to leave the company in 1907. Since then Abercrombie and Fitch now owns abercrombie kids and Hollister. Abercrombie used
to also own Ruehl No. 925 and Gilly Hicks but they both closed down. Ruehl No. 925 was a store created specifically for post-grad
students ages 22 to 35 but announced that they would be closing due to the economic environment in 2009 and then officially closed
down in 2010. Gilly Hicks opened in 2008 selling bras and specializing in female underwear. They ended up closing their doors in
2014 but Hollister continues to sell their brand in store and online. The company uses “brand representatives” or “models” as their
store representatives. The models would have to buy clothes from the store to wear to work but this rule was recently changed due to
the request of labor regulators. Some of the requirements of the employees included sophistication, aspiration, sense of style, diversity
awareness, integrity, applied learning, outgoing personality and communication skills. Some of the employee responsibilities include a
passion for the brand, multi- tasking, adaptability/flexibility, attention to detail, product knowledge and customer focus. The employee
work schedule requires them to work one to two shifts per week on average, each shift is approximately five hours, on- call at least one
shift per week. Abercrombie and Fitch are known for their sexual, revealing photography by Bruce Weber. The store aims to portray
exclusiveness, luxury, and coolness. Mike Jefferies the former CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch until just recently quit. He had been the
CEO of the company since 1992, which is probably one of the reasons why he had such a hard time conforming to new trends. As a
result of this Abercrombie and Fitch has been losing its customers to stores like Forever 21 and H&M that keep up with the latest trends
and that are also affordable. Jeffries was completely against making any type of change to Abercrombie and Fitch’s advertisement and
marketing technique. He did not want discounts offered at the stores, would not sell women’s clothing above a size 10 until about a year
ago, last spring he finally allowed the lights to be turned up in Hollister and the shutters to be opened in Abercrombie and Fitch creating
less of a barrier between the store and consumers. He eventually agreed that the music should be turned down in the stores and the
amount of cologne sprayed in the stores could be reduced to exactly 25%. Mike Jefferies told the press “I believe now is the right time for
new leadership to take the company forward in the next phase of its development.” In 2013 a blogger named Jes who goes by her blogger
name ‘The Militant Baker’ decided to address Abercrombie and Fitch about not wanting over weight people shopping in their stores or
wearing their brand name. Jes said, “I challenge the separation of attractive and fat, and I assert that they are compatible regardless of
what you believe. Not only do I know that I’m sexy, but I also have the confidence to pose nude in ways you don’t dare. You are more
than welcome to prove me wrong by posing shirtless with a hot fat chick; it would thrill me to see such a shoot.” Because of all the recent
controversy and the loss of customers Abercrombie and Fitch has begun to make changes for the fall season. This includes reducing their
logoed merchandise by half. Due to this they have encouraged their customers to shop online while they focus on redeeming themselves
in stores. This shows that it is important for Graphic Designers to listen to the consumer and be able to accommodate their needs. For
my groups presentation we interviewed Matt Stevens, a designer and illustrator for Nike. We asked him if he had any advice for students
striving to become apart of the graphic design world. He said, “find ways to do the work you want to do. Even if it means doing them as
personal projects. Make sure you are producing high caliber worth that relates to what you ultimately want to be doing. Those kinds of
opportunities will not come along if you haven’t proven that you can do it.” This is important because we constantly hear our instructors
telling us to do work outside of class but we take it with a grain of salt because we have a thousand other things that we need to be doing.
What is important to understand is that what we find our interest in and commit to improving is the work that is going to help us become
the best designers we can possibly be. Our portfolios start now. Not later and this work matters just as much as the work we will be
making for employers. What I hope everyone took away from our presentation is to never stop making things and to never stop caring.
Theory & Philosophy of Visual Communication
Pawnee Maiden
Jamie Mahoney
May 3, 2015
Citations
“Abercrombie & Fitch | Authentic American Clothing since 1892.” Abercrombie & Fitch | Authentic American Clothing since 1892.
Web. 3 May 2015. <http://www.abercrombie.com/shop/us>.
Sales Have Plunged for the past Few Years as the Company’s Clothing Has Fallen out of Fashion. “Abercrombie & Fitch Is in Serious
Trouble.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network. Web. 3 May 2015. <http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/06/investing/abercrombie-and-fitchstock-die/>.
Ridinger, Loren. “A&F Controversy: Fitting the Abercrombie & Fitch Mold.” Lorens World. 29 May 2013. Web. 3 May 2015. <http://
www.lorensworld.com/entertainment/af-controversy-fitting-the-abercrombie-fitch-mold/>.
“Abercrombie & Fitch Ads Reimagined As.” Barnorama. 21 May 2013. Web. 3 May 2015. <http://www.barnorama.com/abercrombie-fitch-ads-reimagined-as-attractive-fat/>.
“Abercrombie & Fitch.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 3 May 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abercrombie_&_Fitch>.