Abercrombie & Fitch has been making a lot of changes recently. For one thing, the models in their ads are actually wearing clothes. Full outfits, even! And that's not all. Since the retirement of Abercrombie's long-time CEO, Mike Jeffries, in December 2014, the brand has been actively trying to distance itself from the hyper-sexualized and exclusive image that made them so hot in the late '90s and early '00s, but which has proved damaging to their business in recent years. Here are nine ways the company has changed:
1. They are no longer working with Bruce Weber, the photographer responsible for their iconic catalog. Weber favored photos of models making out in various states of undress, while Abercrombie's most recent campaign was shot by Matt Jones and is a series of portraits shot in a studio.
2. The guys no longer look like they are being caught in the middle of shooting gay porn. They are still hot, though.
3. Some of the guys even have facial hair! They might have chest hair too, although it's hard to know for sure because they are much more covered-up these days.
4. The women in the ads are also wearing full outfits. Before, they mostly just wore bits and pieces. That is, when they wore anything at all.
5. Abercrombie is using a more diverse cast of models both online and in their campaigns. Old A&F Quarterlies featured white models almost exclusively and the company has been sued numerous times in recent years for discriminatory hiring practices. Although they say they have now stopped hiring people based on physical appearance.
6. The stores themselves have changed too. The hot shirtless greeters who used to stand in the doorways are gone. The music is also quieter, the lights brighter, and there is a lot less Fierce cologne in the air. They have also replaced their employee "look" policy with an actual dress code. Although, it should be mentioned that they are currently being sued by a trans former employee who says he was pressured to wear women's clothing after being told he could wear men's clothing at the time he was hired.
7. Abercrombie has removed sexualized images from their storefronts, shopping bags, and gift cards as well. Remember when carrying one of their shopping bags around school could land you in detention? Well, no more!
8. Even their corporate events have changed, as they no longer hire models to walk around shirtless. A party last night in NYC still had models in attendance, but they were fully clothed. Just chilling. The cater waiters were just cater waiters, not models like at so many fashion parties. There was even an Orthodox Jewish man running some embroidery machines in a corner of the party, stitching partygoers' initials onto the jeans they were being gifted by the brand.
9. A&F has a new logo now too. Although, the old logo is still in use as well.
Of course, not everything has changed. The clothes still feel more or less the same — more interesting and with less of an emphasis on logos, but still with the same casual, slightly rugged vibe. And the models, while more racially diverse, are still just as young and slim as ever, although that is really more of an industry-wide issue.
The point is, things are changing. And that's good. Less naked, but still good.
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