If I had
to sum up a moment of shopping in the world of Abercrombie & Fitch, I would say perfection
and contrast. First, the perfection of the atmosphere, with subdued light, huge
dark paintings on the walls and see-through effects thanks to the glass stairs
and the labyrinthic alleys. This is all very far from the spacious and extra
luminous European standard.
 |
| Dark paintings and glass stairs |
Also, and
most importantly, the perfection of the staff. They all are models with the
same kind of beauty, wearing the same uniforms showing off perfect bodies, all
swaying their hips the same way to welcome the customers: the Abercrombie style
will be the same from the beginning till the end, from the models represented
on the walls at the checkout, to the hosts and hostesses all representing the
pretty, young and fashionable targets that the brand is trying to reach.
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| Opening of an Abercrombie & Fitch store in Paris May, 19th 2011 - Champs Elysées |
Finally,
the contrast of a special communication strategy. English is spoken. The models
welcome the customers with a simple “hey,
what’s going on?” before switching to the local language in order to offer
their services. The communication strategy is offensive; at the checkout, you
will be reminded that “we’re also on
Facebook”, in English again. And even if you can feel like you are talking
to robots, the impression you are left with is still striking and effective.
Leaving an
Abercrombie store is like leaving the forth dimension. Change of scenery,
hallucination and seduction mix up to create an indescribable feeling. An indescribable
feeling that still makes us want to take the trip again. Probably because the
Abercrombie style is so different than the European stores, it feels like a
part of America
Blondyn_Bubble
(translated from French by Absolute B.)
The painting on the stairs are fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI do like their campaign as always.. but I stopped shopping at A&F.. just found every single shop so dark and I always leave the place feeling death.
ReplyDeletelee x
Abercrombie & Fitch is a zombie brand. It is an example of how an amazing brand which dies is resuscitated in gruesome fashion to wreak havoc on the fashion landscape. It's like losing a friend to a plague only to have him return shambling, moaning, and attempting to snack on your brains.
ReplyDeleteYou see, A&F used to be an amazing American heritage brand going all the way back to the 1800s. Like LL Bean and other fine catalog establishments, you could rely on it to get you exactly what you needed for sport and country. However, it fell on hard times and went bankrupt where it was scooped up in 1988 by The Limited. It was then sold in an Initial Public Offering to shareholders, who now own the brand. These shareholders, rather than go back to the heritage that once made A&F a label to be proud of, chose instead to target the suburban teen demographic. This lead to badly mangled copies of traditional American style, weak construction, shoddy stitching, and the frightening army of clones that staff the stores.
Much like other zombies, A&F will only stop if we cut off the head- which means we need people to stop buying A&F stock!
Never liked A&F. It's just another faux status symbol brand. It has this connotation attached to it that people eat up, the whole " I can afford to pay $40.00 (US currency) for a basic solid color polo shirt."
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that they are lashing out at the Jersey Shore cast, for "damaging" their brand image. Where I'm from, the damage is very visible. Teens who are far from suburban wear A&F, in fact it almost seems like A&F has become a "streetwear" line, popular among urban youth. There are some who still wear it in the suburbs, but its prevalence is really shown in the streets.
Your view on this American (nightmare) brand is so fascinating. This brand does not in any way represent who we are but I can see how it plays up to the IMAGE of who we are.
ReplyDeleteTheir employment practices have become legendary - and not in a good way! They have been sued for discrimination multiple times. The people they recruit are young, inexperienced, often fresh out of college and naive, and always beautiful. Once you reach a certain age they find a way to push you out - without regarding your work record or ethic.
As for shopping in their stores, I am completely disoriented by the loud music, mirrors and pitch dark lighting. I am embarrassed for the poor models who stand outside of their flagship here in LA to "greet" the customer wearing little to nothing. Just who are they trying to appeal to, I wonder? It's mostly tourists from what I can tell.
You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. I love your blog. Don't buy in to this brand. Better yet, don't buy it. The American Dream is about being free and being treated fairly and so much more than what this sad company is attempting to project!
http://www.inherentstylela.com/
p.s. the way they spray the mall with their scent, and bump the music so loud, so that you smell it and here it long before you see it is an assault on the senses! So obnoxious!
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad of all those reactions. I actually think you're right when you talk about your problems with the image of the brand.
ReplyDeleteAs I said, for us, europeans, the shops can be fascinating because they're so different from what we know. But i totally understand why americans can have a problem with the image they give about the US.
I think that they've lost themselves in communication, in profit and most of all they've lost the image they first had, the one that made the interest of people. Now, everybody wears A&F, americans, europeans too, and all kinds of people.
Talking about the cast ... It's the work of image until the very last limit : perfume on the cast, beautiful people and all... As I said : too much. But in Europe, it works !
I don't know much about the A&F brand, I've only seen it in international magazines and where I reside it is not sold, so I can't add much to the above commentators. But from the above images and your description, it seems really fascinating. It seems like a store I would go in, not to buy the clothes but to experience the atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteThe staffs are not all models. I am not a model and I was offered to work at A&F when I was shopping at A&F store in Copenhagen, which I declined politely. They said I am welcome to change my mind, which I might, or maybe not.
ReplyDeletehttp://batzul.blogspot.com/
Of course, they're not all models, but what I wanted to point out is that they're all good looking, to go along with the image of the brand : young and trendy :)
ReplyDelete