Abercrombie & Fitch Puts Shirts On Male Models, Tries To Reinvent Itself

Put some shirts on, yuppies. (Molly)

Put some shirts on, yuppies. (Molly)

A fascinating and weird era in retail history is now over: the male models at Abercrombie & Fitch have put on some shirts. The brand is reinventing itself for the present era, ditching logo-laden clothing, shirtless dudes, their no-fat-chicks policies, and CEO Mike Jeffries. Will that be enough to make the brand relevant as other teen-focused retailers are putting down their gates for good?

One retail analyst thinks that a massive brand revamp isn’t enough to bring Abercrombie back. Selling an image of aspirational hotness and effortless wealth simply doesn’t connect for the current crop of teens. Industry analyst Robin Lewis told Racked that she doesn’t think that the brand will last unless it takes the refresh even further and changes its name entirely.

Abercrombie had a very specific image during the Jeffries era that its clothing selection and hiring decisions reflected. Clothing in certain colors wasn’t available, namely black. There’s a new person at the head of each of Abercrombie’s brands, and the first collections of clothes under their supervision will hit stores in a few months.

Mapping Abercrombie & Fitch’s Painstaking Reinvention Strategy

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