Abercrombe & Fitch vs. fat people

[vizzle]

well "his" face is made of 90% plastic now, not sure if you can really call that "his" face. maybe more like a work of art from his plastic doctor or something

And as I said, the face is crap anyway. The body is still spectacular for a 68 year old imo.

[theredviola]

Not that I needed another reason to hate A&F. But at least now there's a moral high ground to stand on.

[Elegiac]

Hollister went through the same backlash.

They'll stop alienating potential customers when they realise it doesnt get them anywhere.

This. Say what you will about corporate greed, but it doesn't lend itself well to arbitrary discrimination.

[MathAddict]

And the guy saying it is such a looker!



I'm being sarcastic.

I was going to come in and say a company has a right to do what ever they want within the confines of social acceptable behavior... then I saw that thing above.....


I am not sure what to really type, I just know from now on It will be hard for me to look at A&F underwear again and be turned on.

[kichigaijin]

A clothing line is focusing on a particular demographic, and some people are complaining about it.

How exactly is this news again?

[Thetruth1400]

And the guy saying it is such a looker!



I'm being sarcastic.

Seriously, is he a burn victim because he looks it.

From any business model, it's essentially setting itself up for failure. Sure, it's fine that they want to cater to a certain demographic, but it's essentially robbing yourself of business for no reason other then ego.

[worprz]

Eatable clothes... Make them small for skinny people and delicious for fat people... Everyone wins!

I laughed way harder than I should have to that.

OT I guess they can do whatever they want, they are just making less money.

[Klutzington]

Only d-bags wear those brands. They are essentially tissue paper with free advertising. Anytime I see anyone who is 16+ wearing that shit I think they are the most immature person. Not only are both brands classless, it's cliche and everyone wears it, thinking it's "cool."

On topic: I think this company is ridiculous. It's like Tobacco companies openly saying "yea we advertise to kids so our company doesn't run dry in the future" and then everyone gasps from shock. It's obvious what the company wants to do, but only sheeple will follow.

[Deleted]

A clothing line is focusing on a particular demographic, and some people are complaining about it.

How exactly is this news again?

Attidute.

He says that:

1) Kinda says that over size 10 women are not cool, in, cant be fashionable, cant have many friends and shouldnt wear clothes from them. I mean they arent serving them sizes for that and then saying stuff like below - you pretty much say that no friends etc. Size 10+ can have friends and can be fashionable (and should wear nice clothes they like) and overweight people need pants too!)
2) XXL men sizes are ok because they "are catered to athletes" (as if?)
3) He wants only thin and beautiful people to wear the stores clothes. Not just thin but pretty too. Thats why they hire "only pretty sales people"
4) One comments on other article says that their stores clothes doesnt fit you unless you are female with no boobs or ass - "even at sizes 6"

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” he told the site. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. 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.

I mean I guess if you want to "only sell to people with lot of friends and are cool" then yeah go for it. That sure is good for business rather than go for wider audience than that.

[Klutzington]

I mean I guess if you want to "only sell to people with lot of friends and are cool" then yeah go for it. That sure is good for business rather than go for wider audience than that.

Man... I really want to be a mindless popular kid in school. I never understood the hype over it. You don;t ever meet 99% of the people in highschool that you knew once you are out.

[Pendulous]

i didn't read the article but I don't see the problem in only having small sizes at all. Why would a company be forced to sell clothes for everyone Oo? It's a private company after all they sell whatever the fuck they want. If they want to sell only large, only small, only women, only men, only children, only tall or short clothes is their choice what the hell. There is a big difference in outright alienating certain people and selling different sizes of clothes.

Now if he outright alienates, insults, etc certain people based on their appearance then yea there is something to be said here. A CEO from a big company like that has a voice with quite a bit more impact than a regular guy and should understand that he cannot say whatever he wants without expecting repercussions.

You should really read the article, because the things you said in your second paragraph is basically what he's doing.

It's a privately owned clothing store they can sell whatever they want. I don't see a problem with what they are doing.

See above. Lots of places refuse to cater to larger sizes, but most of them don't have their CEO go all stupid-mode and say things that gets your three-year-old laughing at him.

[DEATHETERNAL]

Don't care. Their product their call. Anyone who doesn't like it can get over themselves. If you want to tell him who to insult and how to run his business, buy a controlling interest in the company. Until then, it isn't any of your business.

[K i s u]

I don't have too much to add but have to admit the title hooked me right in, I don't see a problem with a company wanting to cater to a specific demographic, it might not be the best business decision but its their choice all the same and should they ever come to regret it they just have themselves to blame. The wording and PR on that article is awful however.

[Xl House lX]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...e-8608022.html

How do you guys feel about this? I think it's good that the company isn't influenced by the media to appeal towards all types of people. If they want to cater towards skinny/fit people, that should be their choice. How the CEO said it though seemed kind of stupid.

Being obese and all I thought I'd throw in my opinion into the fray.

So you have all these name brand clothes (American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, etc.) and they aren't really designed around heavier people wearing them. And just as that CEO said, its about getting the 'cool' kids to wear the clothes, and if the clothes can be worn by anyone, it really does take away that feeling of being 'cool'. Essentially, that is what name brand clothes is all about. Its about making a statement, showing your 'class', etc.

I think the way he said it is a bit retarded, and if I ever met him in real life I'd probably go out of my way to make his day terrible, but he has a point. Why is it that "Wal-Mart clothes are lame"? because all their clothes are generic, they go all the way up to 4x (maybe even 5x) and are cheap. Meaning ANYONE can buy their clothes, which in turn makes the clothes lame so to speak.

Because Abercrombie is based on this 'cool' factor, broadening its market would in fact have negative effects, I mean, they've been going this long without catering to fat people, and they are doing just fine, why change something that isn't broken?

Like I get all that, what I don't particularly get is where he said something along the lines of "Attractive people attract other attractive people" like... don't attractive people pretty much attract ALL people? Not just other attractive ones? I don't really get that... quite confusing if I'm being 100% honest.

But the tl;dr version of this is: Abercrombie (and other name brand clothing lines) are superficial, and are built around superficial ideals. They don't usually say it like the CEO of Abercrombie did, but its the truth nonetheless. If you are overweight like me (in which case I am obese, much so) and you want to wear their clothes, the answer is simple: Lose weight. Nice clothing is one more reason to lose weight, if that gets taken away then your removing motive to lose weight, possibly spreading the epidemic that is obesity.

[Deleted]

Man... I really want to be a mindless popular kid in school. I never understood the hype over it. You don;t ever meet 99% of the people in highschool that you knew once you are out.

Bolded: If I've known this I would've been so much different at high school.

And yeah, popular in high school. Must be nice.

edit:

I think the way he said it is a bit retarded, and if I ever met him in real life I'd probably go out of my way to make his day terrible, but he has a point. Why is it that "Wal-Mart clothes are lame"? because all their clothes are generic, they go all the way up to 4x (maybe even 5x) and are cheap. Meaning ANYONE can buy their clothes, which in turn makes the clothes lame so to speak.

Yeah, super market clothes are lame and boring.

But this does not, and never really have, meant that "clothes for obese" are and should be lame.
Good dressing and confident overweight person is fine and I dont see issue. Maybe they should focus on making the clothes cool and not "limit them to very selected group of people" and that way make them "cool"?
Looking, and hearing, about their clothes.. they look pretty bad and old. "From 1995!" as some comment said

[Collegeguy]

Abercrombie fitch has a marketing model that is exclusive. It's actually a very sophisticated design that is well used and well known. Can't remember the right definition for it.

The purposely design their marketing and clothes to exclude certain people. They have even gone out of the way to pay people contracts NOT to wear their clothes. One of the guys from Jersey shore has a contract with Abercrombie to never wear their clothes.

Honestly though, as many clothing chains are now changing their sizes to better fit fat people and in return removing the smaller sizes, you have no credible complaint here.. Since fat is the new norm, a lot of stores have been doing this since the 90s. For example, there was a women clothing chain wear they completely removed many of the smaller sizes and replaced them with fat sizes. Women protested about it on their website.

I DARE you, to find an Xtra small sized shirt at Old Navy or Gap in the men's section. Actually I'd be willing to put up a reward if you could find one. Wasn't until about several years ago that they complete removed that size entirely. This is extremely problematic for people who are asian or are not from what I would call our "Fat Culture" that we have created in the past couple decades. Like I said, you really have no complaint here.

[darkwarrior42]

His stores, his opinion.

Just gives me more reason to hate the store of course, but I"m not going to yell at him. I just won't shop there.

[reef]

im not surprised... i worked at hollister with my friend for around two months during a holiday season a few years ago. one of the managers told me that she would really much rather have my friend working in the back because she only wants the hottest people in the front, but because it was super busy, she had no choice. i didn't tell my friend because i know that would have upset her. these stores really bother me and since then, i've never even gone in them.

[Minky]

And the guy saying it is such a looker!



I'm being sarcastic.

Who gives a shit what the person saying it looks like?
Being fat is not acceptable. You're either lazy, eat poorly, or have shit genes.
All three are things that shouldn't be tolerated.

[Xl House lX]

im not surprised... i worked at hollister with my friend for around two months during a holiday season a few years ago. one of the managers told me that she would really much rather have my friend working in the back because she only wants the hottest people in the front, but because it was super busy, she had no choice. i didn't tell my friend because i know that would have upset her. these stores really bother me and since then, i've never even gone in them.

That right there doesn't surprise me one bit. All of these name brand clothing lines/stores are all like that. It is a superficial business. They thrive on superficial ideals, its what keeps their business afloat. If I ever lose weight and get to a healthy size, I'll try working at a store like that and when that bullshit happens I will go crazy on them.

---------- Post added 2013-05-09 at 12:10 AM ----------

Who gives a shit what the person saying it looks like?
Being fat is not acceptable. You're either lazy, eat poorly, or have shit genes.
All three are things that shouldn't be tolerated.

The first and second one I could say is "frowned upon".

But saying first second, AND third one "shouldn't be tolerated."

Really? Really?? You would not tolerate someone because of bad genes? Lol.

I would love to hear you talk about you think on the subject in person, and not through the wall of safety that is the internet.