The film, which dives into the history and cultural phenomenon that was Abercrombie & Fitch, looks at just how popular the brand was in the \u201990s and \u201900s before a number of controversies around employment practices and accusations of exclusivity in regard to its target demographic came to light.<\/p>\n
While the documentary looks at the various lawsuits and claims, we\u2019ve broken down some of the big controversies in detail \u2013 so here\u2019s everything you need to know about Abercrombie & Fitch and the issues explored in the film.<\/p>\n
What is Abercrombie & Fitch?<\/strong><\/h2>\nAbercrombie & Fitch is a clothing brand that became popular in the \u201990s and early \u201900s thanks to its high-profile advertising campaigns and its line of All-American, preppy clothes.<\/p>\n
The company was founded in 1892 as an apparel outfitter for outdoorsmen, but after it was bought by The Limited in 1988, it began targeting the young adult market and grew into one of the largest clothing brands in the US.<\/p>\n
Abercrombie & Fitch became known for its marketing material, which featured black and white photographs of semi-naked men and women in outdoor settings as well as its stores, which were often dark, covered in shuttered windows, smelled of Abercrombie & Fitch perfume and hired models and other attractive young people to be its \u201cbrand representatives\u201d.<\/p>\n
The company established a number of spin-off brands, including Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co, Gilly Hicks and Ruehl No. 925, all of which were marketed towards different age demographics.<\/p>\n
As a Salon article wrote in 2006: \u201cFor the kids there\u2019s Abercrombie, aimed at middle schoolers who want to look like their cool older siblings. For high schoolers there\u2019s Hollister, a wildly popular surf-inspired look for \u2018energetic and outgoing guys and girls\u2019 that has quickly become the brand of choice for Midwestern teens who wish they lived in Laguna Beach, Calif.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the Hollister kids head off to college, [it] has a brand \u2013 the preppy and collegiate Abercrombie & Fitch \u2013 waiting for them there. And for the post-college professional who is still young at heart, [it] recently launched Ruehl, a casual sportswear line that targets 22- to 35-year-olds.\u201d<\/p>\n
What are the controversies around Abercrombie & Fitch?<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Edward Berthelot\/Getty Images<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nAbercrombie & Fitch has been at the centre of numerous controversies over the years, beginning with boycotts over its line of graphic T-shirts.<\/p>\n
In 2002, the Asian American student group at Stanford University boycotted the company over a T-shirt it sold which read: \u201cWong Brothers Laundry Service \u2013 Two Wongs Can Make It White\u201d alongside two characters wearing conical Asian hats. Abercrombie & Fitch pulled the design and issued an apology.<\/p>\n
In 2005, the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania launched a \u201cgirlcott\u201d of the stores after the company began selling T-shirts with slogans such as \u201cWho needs brains when you have these?\u201d, \u201cI had a nightmare I was a brunette\u201d and \u201cAvailable for parties\u201d. The company discontinued the designs and said in a statement: \u201cWe recognise that the shirts in question, while meant to be humorous, might be troubling to some.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company has also been sued over its employment practices, with a 2004 lawsuit accusing Abercrombie & Fitch of discriminating against people of colour by preferentially hiring white men for floor sales and management positions. According to the New York Times<\/a>, the company did not admit guilt but did agree to pay a settlement of $40 million to several thousand plaintiffs, as well as hiring diversity recruiters and a vice president for diversity.<\/p>\nThe publication noted: \u201cIn an unusual step, the settlement calls for Abercrombie to increase diversity not just in hiring and promotions, but also in its advertisements and catalogs, which have long featured models who were overwhelmingly white and who seemed to have stepped off the football field or out of fraternities or sororities.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the UK, 22-year-old employee Riam Dean took Abercrombie & Fitch to the employment tribunal in 2009, suing them for disability discrimination after claiming that she was removed from the shop floor and made to work in the stockroom as her cardigan, which covered her prosthetic arm, did not adhere to the dress code.<\/p>\n
The tribunal awarded her \u00a38,000 for unlawful harassment and ruled that the company failed to comply with employment law but found that Dean did not suffer disability discrimination, according to BBC News<\/a>.<\/p> More recently, a lawsuit filed by Samantha Elauf against Abercrombie & Fitch was taken to the Supreme Court after she claimed that she\u2019d applied for a sales position at an Abercrombie Kids store and a manager told her that her headscarf violated the store\u2019s \u2018Look Policy\u2019.<\/p>\n
The US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against the company<\/a> in 2015. Abercrombie has since changed its \u2018look policy\u2019 to allow headgear, including hijabs.<\/p>\nThe company\u2019s former CEO Mike Jeffries came under fire back in 2013, when an interview he did with Salon magazine<\/a> in 2006 resurfaced, in which he had made comments about the brand\u2019s aims for exclusivity.<\/p>\n\u201cThat\u2019s why 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\u2019t market to anyone other than that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 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\u2019t belong [in our clothes], and they can\u2019t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on to issue an apology on the company\u2019s Facebook page shortly afterwards, saying: \u201cI want to address some of my comments that have been circulating from a 2006 interview. While I believe this 7-year-old, resurrected quote has been taken out of context, I sincerely regret that my choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offence.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also stated, \u201cWe are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterisations or other anti-social behaviour based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics.\u201d<\/p>\n
White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch is available on Netflix<\/a> now.<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you\u2019re looking for more to watch check out our TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0or visit our dedicated\u00a0Entertainment<\/a>\u00a0hub for the latest news.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nThe latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 19 April 2022 at 12:00 am While Tuesday marks the end of the Easter Weekend, at least we\u2019re kicking off the four-day week with brand new Netflix documentary, White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch. The film, which dives into the history and cultural phenomenon that was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":14057,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 19 April 2022 at 12:00 am While Tuesday marks the end of the Easter Weekend, at least we\u2019re kicking off the four-day week with brand new Netflix documentary, White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch. The film, which dives into the history and cultural phenomenon that was…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/14056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1212846762-fbde69f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Abercrombie & Fitch has been at the centre of numerous controversies over the years, beginning with boycotts over its line of graphic T-shirts.<\/p>\n
In 2002, the Asian American student group at Stanford University boycotted the company over a T-shirt it sold which read: \u201cWong Brothers Laundry Service \u2013 Two Wongs Can Make It White\u201d alongside two characters wearing conical Asian hats. Abercrombie & Fitch pulled the design and issued an apology.<\/p>\n
In 2005, the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania launched a \u201cgirlcott\u201d of the stores after the company began selling T-shirts with slogans such as \u201cWho needs brains when you have these?\u201d, \u201cI had a nightmare I was a brunette\u201d and \u201cAvailable for parties\u201d. The company discontinued the designs and said in a statement: \u201cWe recognise that the shirts in question, while meant to be humorous, might be troubling to some.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company has also been sued over its employment practices, with a 2004 lawsuit accusing Abercrombie & Fitch of discriminating against people of colour by preferentially hiring white men for floor sales and management positions. According to the New York Times<\/a>, the company did not admit guilt but did agree to pay a settlement of $40 million to several thousand plaintiffs, as well as hiring diversity recruiters and a vice president for diversity.<\/p>\n The publication noted: \u201cIn an unusual step, the settlement calls for Abercrombie to increase diversity not just in hiring and promotions, but also in its advertisements and catalogs, which have long featured models who were overwhelmingly white and who seemed to have stepped off the football field or out of fraternities or sororities.\u201d<\/p>\n In the UK, 22-year-old employee Riam Dean took Abercrombie & Fitch to the employment tribunal in 2009, suing them for disability discrimination after claiming that she was removed from the shop floor and made to work in the stockroom as her cardigan, which covered her prosthetic arm, did not adhere to the dress code.<\/p>\n The tribunal awarded her \u00a38,000 for unlawful harassment and ruled that the company failed to comply with employment law but found that Dean did not suffer disability discrimination, according to BBC News<\/a>.<\/p> More recently, a lawsuit filed by Samantha Elauf against Abercrombie & Fitch was taken to the Supreme Court after she claimed that she\u2019d applied for a sales position at an Abercrombie Kids store and a manager told her that her headscarf violated the store\u2019s \u2018Look Policy\u2019.<\/p>\n The US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against the company<\/a> in 2015. Abercrombie has since changed its \u2018look policy\u2019 to allow headgear, including hijabs.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s former CEO Mike Jeffries came under fire back in 2013, when an interview he did with Salon magazine<\/a> in 2006 resurfaced, in which he had made comments about the brand\u2019s aims for exclusivity.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why 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\u2019t market to anyone other than that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 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\u2019t belong [in our clothes], and they can\u2019t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n He went on to issue an apology on the company\u2019s Facebook page shortly afterwards, saying: \u201cI want to address some of my comments that have been circulating from a 2006 interview. While I believe this 7-year-old, resurrected quote has been taken out of context, I sincerely regret that my choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offence.\u201d<\/p>\n He also stated, \u201cWe are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterisations or other anti-social behaviour based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics.\u201d<\/p>\n White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch is available on Netflix<\/a> now.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for more to watch check out our TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0or visit our dedicated\u00a0Entertainment<\/a>\u00a0hub for the latest news.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 19 April 2022 at 12:00 am While Tuesday marks the end of the Easter Weekend, at least we\u2019re kicking off the four-day week with brand new Netflix documentary, White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch. The film, which dives into the history and cultural phenomenon that was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":14057,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/white-hot-true-story-what-were-the-abercrombie-fitch-controversies.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 19 April 2022 at 12:00 am While Tuesday marks the end of the Easter Weekend, at least we\u2019re kicking off the four-day week with brand new Netflix documentary, White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch. The film, which dives into the history and cultural phenomenon that was…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/14056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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