Here is something that really makes you go hmmmmm. . . .
 

Since last week, when this quote from CEO Mike Jeffries surfaced, who was asked why Abercrombie and Fitch didn't offer clothing in XL for women, :

"In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. 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. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."

By the way, A&F's idea of a women's large is pretty small.

And how is it everybody who works in the A&F stores are so young and gorgeous?

"We hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don't market to anyone other than that."


Jeffries said this during a 2006 interview with Salon.com, where his comments captured comparatively little notice.

sad. sad. sad. we are all equal and human no matter the size or look. beauty goes so much deeper than looks. sad but this is common i would think for alot of businesses out there ....i mean seriously its part of why america is what it is today.

I think his comments are just disgusting!!

This company is notorious for getting tons of free advertising by being shocking and controversial. I chalk this up to another gimmick, one in very poor taste.

I'm with you. Why did it take 7 years for that quote to get so much attention?

Someone found it and it is around on FB.

I saw this on Good Morning America. Unreal!

I've worn A &F clothes in the past and I actually found their sizing to be very large. So large in fact that I could wear a size small in the kids store. I was wearing their size 00 and 0 when in other brands I was wearing a 2 or 4. Maybe their fit had changed, but I haven't walked into one of their shops since the early 2000s. What was I thinking wearing that crap?!

But I agree, it's all gimmicks and publicity for this guy. Btw he's really unattractive.

I agree about the sizing. Haven't shopped in the store in years (before they instituted the insanely loud music), but when I did, they had very large sizes.

And insanely oversprayed fragrances. I can't stand perfume smells.

Personally I always found it to be kind of weird that straight men shopped at these stores. Most men unfortunately are still quite homophobic, and to think of going in a store with large posters of half naked men would make me think they wouldn't like shopping there. Or perhaps I am the one who thinks more people are homophobic than there are? I just know my very close gay friend is always posting pics like A&F ads on his FB page and that's what makes me think their advertising seems to be marketed towards gay men. But gay men don't dress like that. They are more stylish. :D

I am a size 11/12 and I found that their clothes run small.

I think they have changed to smaller sizes -- last time I was in one of their store was in the '90s. :p

I like that video that refers to him as Old Biff. Spot on comparison!!

That is horrible.

Isn't that disgusting? The guy is tool, and he looks like one too! Talk about 'not a cool kid'!!! I don't shop A&F ever, and now I never will while it's owned by this idiot.

Isn't this the same company that got in trouble for using young models in provocative clothing and poses?

And their hiring ethics are very discriminatory....aren't they? :confused:

I guess I am in the minority, I have never shopped in their stores, but I do think that companies have a right to market to who they want to market to. And even better yet the consumer has a right to shop at stores that best fit their needs. I applaud how easy the CFO makes it for us/me to know that his store is not the right store for me.

also if I owned a business I would want to hire people that looked like or attacted the type of person I was looking to attract. Let's face it, it would be dumb to hire bald men if you were selling hair replacement solutions

Donna, I do agree with your points. It's a free country, and we are free to practice whatever religion we want, follow whatever political party we want, and spend our hard earned dollars at which ever business we want. However, to blatantly say in an interview that his company's products are only for cool good looking all American kids who have lots of friends....what? It works the other way too. We are free to (ie have the right to) buy whatever products we want if we can (or in some cases can't) afford them. Ever see a hopelessly unhip person wearing designer jeans? An un-juicy girl wearing Juicy sweatpants?

And the girls at Hooters (one of my friends is a former one).. of course they are supposed to be hot. But to publicly say it, I think that's where most people have the problem. There are laws here that say you cannot discriminate against people for how they look, their sexual orientation, their religion, but people do it; but they don't broadcast that they do. This guy did. And look at him!

Perhaps Maximo is right in that it was just for publicity. He didn't get much flack for it back in 2006 when he said it. Now that his brands are dying out, this came back out. Hmmmm. Also 2006 was around the height of this brand, so maybe he felt invincible?

What he said is disgusting, no doubt about it. What really makes me go "hmmmm..." Is the fact that it took 7YEARS for his comments to go mainstream. It's giving him and his brand the attention he wants.

Had to look him up, he looks like he's related to Jocelyn Wildenstein. Man bad plastic surgery is turning us all into the same person.

The only thing I have to say about this is as a larger sized woman, I fully agree that there are certain things that I shouldn't wear, and companies should not make clothing designed for size 4 teenagers in a size 16 or 20 because many people don't have the sense not to wear certain things and are not aware of how they look, but can be offensive to others in a public setting. I am saying this as someone who should not wear these types of clothing.

But the problem is they make jeans and t shirts and things that everyone can where.

Ok, jeans and tshirts should be ok for all. I am talking about shorty shorts with writing on the bum or stretchy pants or middrift tops. I always thought A &F was more the khaki kinda stuff, anyway. I just remember in the past when I wanted to buy something that didn't come in my size, and as I got older, I understood why! :rolleyes:

As a 40 year old woman, Im smart enough not to shop in a store that caters to 15-25 year olds....why would I want to?

I think it's disgusting to see an older woman trying to look younger by wearing clothes that are too small and too young.


And they make jeans that are "hipster". Why an adult would want to try and fit Into them is beyond me.

I think even if you are over 40 and have a great figure, there are still certain clothes not to wear. Being in Orange County, there are TONS of fish lipped bleach blonde over 40 somethings that think just bc they have a nice figure they can dress like their teenaged daughters. Just tacky!

I feel bad for the girls that should be wearing the clothes but because they are not a size 2-7 they can't wear it. I think it is wrong. It gives girls just another reason that they are not in the medias ideal. I was 5'7" in 5th grade. It was so hard for me to find clothes that was suitable for my age. I was not that little petite, little girl. I was not that ideal.

Wow....what a disgusting mission to have, in my opinion. I haven't shopped there in years, but now I'll make sure to NEVER shop there again.