as must have been apparent to anyone hanging out in Central London recently, Abercrombie & Fitch is opening a store on Savile Row today, and to mark the occasion has plastered many a double deckers with prominent posters announcing the event. True to the brand ethos, the ad features a shirtless young man turning his back to us, I guess because when you're an "edgy" brand like A&F, you like to defy social conventions like it ain't no thing.
As the premier purveyors of preppy teenage chic, A&F have been big in the States for a while now, so I guess it was to be expected for them to explore these shores one day. After all, as crappy Hollywood actioners have shown, it's not the quality of your product that matters, as long as you find new countries to sell it in. Not to say Abercrombie products are bad, they're definitely a step above American Eagle, Gap and other competitors, but haute-couture this is not, despite the ever-increasing prices. Having been a high schooler in the US, I know how powerful the brand is in the coveted youth market, power from which it derives most of its value. I'm sure Ralph Lauren, that other supplier of preppiness, would love to have Abercrombie's image, as it is seen as rather dowdy, to say the least.
A&F has been criticized in the past for being a bit too image-conscious, sometimes relegating people who fit less with their brand image (i.e. not fit, teethy and, um, white) to the back of stores. The brand bases a lot of its marketing on sex-appeal, be it through regular ad campaigns of shirtless young guys (see: any double-decker on Regent Street right now) or girls in skimpy outfits, as well as through its annual Christmas calendar, with its SHOCKING photos of quasi-nude models. Seeing as how this brand is geared toward teenagers, you can imagine how that might not please everyone in mainstream USA. Cue the yearly CNN reports about A&F's calendar and the various Christian organizations making their statements and you get a good example of the sex sells adage. Not to mention a few other scandals like having offensive slogans on tee-shirts.
But for now there's just this one store in the whole of Europe, so we'll see if it works well enough for the expansion to go on. I suspect it will, seeing as how kids these days seem to be used to spending massive amounts of money on their clothing. As for me I'll definitely be making a visit to the store soon, and see if they'll be able to make me buy one of their hoodies so I can feel like I'm dressing "young". Nostalgia is a powerful thing, that's for sure.
As the premier purveyors of preppy teenage chic, A&F have been big in the States for a while now, so I guess it was to be expected for them to explore these shores one day. After all, as crappy Hollywood actioners have shown, it's not the quality of your product that matters, as long as you find new countries to sell it in. Not to say Abercrombie products are bad, they're definitely a step above American Eagle, Gap and other competitors, but haute-couture this is not, despite the ever-increasing prices. Having been a high schooler in the US, I know how powerful the brand is in the coveted youth market, power from which it derives most of its value. I'm sure Ralph Lauren, that other supplier of preppiness, would love to have Abercrombie's image, as it is seen as rather dowdy, to say the least.
A&F has been criticized in the past for being a bit too image-conscious, sometimes relegating people who fit less with their brand image (i.e. not fit, teethy and, um, white) to the back of stores. The brand bases a lot of its marketing on sex-appeal, be it through regular ad campaigns of shirtless young guys (see: any double-decker on Regent Street right now) or girls in skimpy outfits, as well as through its annual Christmas calendar, with its SHOCKING photos of quasi-nude models. Seeing as how this brand is geared toward teenagers, you can imagine how that might not please everyone in mainstream USA. Cue the yearly CNN reports about A&F's calendar and the various Christian organizations making their statements and you get a good example of the sex sells adage. Not to mention a few other scandals like having offensive slogans on tee-shirts.
But for now there's just this one store in the whole of Europe, so we'll see if it works well enough for the expansion to go on. I suspect it will, seeing as how kids these days seem to be used to spending massive amounts of money on their clothing. As for me I'll definitely be making a visit to the store soon, and see if they'll be able to make me buy one of their hoodies so I can feel like I'm dressing "young". Nostalgia is a powerful thing, that's for sure.
2 comments:
I'd love to see Abercrombie & Fish in France, (call me blonde but there aren't, right??).
Cha, right now there are no stores in France, but I think it would be one of the first countries for further European expansion. I'm guessing it might be at least a year or two before that happens though.
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