Abercrombie and Fitch

[oliveu2cm]

What do you guys think of all this? Sixty Minutes did a report earlier this week about the company. Apparently they are being sued for discrimination.

But all that fair hair and skin has made them a juicy target. They?re being taken to court, accused of racial discrimination in their hiring.

Does Abercrombie?s all-American look exclude some Americans?

?All-American doesn't mean all-white,? says Jennifer Lu, a student at University of California, Irvine and a former salesperson at a Costa Mesa store. Lu and several other young people say they couldn?t get a job or were fired because their ?look? was not consistent with the Abercrombie ?look.?

?It?s dominated by Caucasian, football looking, blond hair, blue eyed males. Skinny, tall,? says Lu. ?You don't see any African American, Asian Americans And that's the image that they're portraying and that they're looking for.?

?We're not talking about a single individual who was denied a job. As terrible as that is, and as unlawful as that is. We're talking about practices going on across the country, at hundreds of stores, affecting thousands of students,? says Saenz. ?They want people who fit a look. An Abercrombie & Fitch look. And they've defined that look in many, many different ways based on race.?

Personally, I have major beefs with AF. I've been in their store a handful of times. The clothing isn't my style. It's too flimsy, the material too cheap, and everything is way too small. That's not my real problem with them.

My problem with AF is with how I was treated by the salespeople. The three times I went in the store I was treated with absolute disrespect, disregard, and rudeness. I've been accused of sneaking into dressing rooms (to try something on- after being let in by another employee). That was the last straw. I vowed never to enter foot in their store again and I will maintain that vow until they go out of business.

I find every single girl who works there to be very snotty, rude, and plain stupid. (This is my experience w/ those I've workers I've encountered.) They exude an unwarranted hauntiness and pay attention only to the male customers.

As far as the discrimination goes, they have some serious allegations coming out. If they are true, they should get it coming to them. And this kind of attitude will do nothing to promote equality in this world, among ALL kinds of people.

That?s not racism, says Elder, that?s capitalism: ?This is about a business deciding pursuant to its own best interests, rightly or wrongly, that a particular kind of salesperson is more likely to generate more dollars ? It?s all about the bottom line.?

But, if they want to promote the "All American" look then it is wrong:

But the young people who are suing say all that is irrelevant. They say companies like Abercrombie need to be reminded what being American is all about.

?All-American, their all-American image does not mean all white. That's not right. That's not legal,? says Lu. ?That's what we grew up learning all-American to be. All-American, a melting pot. Not all white.?

There's also the issue of their sexploits that's just as upsetting considering the target age group of these catalogs.

Along with sexually explicit images, the company's "Christmas Field Guide" tells young people in no uncertain terms "there are no sexual boundaries and no consequences to any sexual behavior," says the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families.

source

If they want to publish magazines like that then by all means do so... but put it in the porn rack in magazine shops, not available to all ages of children.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I saw a news report about their "Christmas catalog", of course they do that all the time for publicity.

I don't think the discrimination issue is out of the realm of possibility either.

They represent everything I find to be repugnant -for that reason I'd never set foot in their store. I never have, and if I did, I'd be kicked out for being too old or not skinny or beautiful enough.

I remember walking by that store in the mall last year at Christmas time, and they had these beefcakey guys at the entrance wearing these skimpy red shorts, Santa hats, and nothing else

Didn't they have t-shirts last year that Asian people protested? I can't recall the details..

 

[nbcrusader]

Who else will sell thongs with suggestive phrases to junior high girls???

AF

 

[nbcrusader]

Didn't they have t-shirts last year that Asian people protested? I can't recall the details..

Yes, they did. It seems as if they market to white teenagers with plenty of disposable cash and little concern for bigotry. I see too much AF clothing at the local high school.

 

[Northeast]

I saw that discrimintation thing on them, I dont' think they are doing it on purpose .....I mean if thats the image they want then fine....the show made a good point with FUBU and stuff like that anyway these are my problems with AF

they are way over priced
they think they are way too cool
they are way over priced
their ads are gross
they are way over priced
they are way over priced
they are way over priced
they are way over priced

 

[U2Kitten]

I've never been a status symbol person and I confess I never heard of them until that awful song by LFO ("I like girls who wear Abercrombie and Fitch, Chinese food makes me sick...")

I can't see spending extra money for something just because of the name

 

[Northeast]

on your sig picture

 

[joyfulgirl]

My sister dragged me into one in NYC recently and the disco-volume music pounding pounding pounding made me homicidal.

 

[Northeast]

My sister dragged me into one in NYC recently and the disco-volume music pounding pounding pounding made me homicidal.

YEAH NO KIDDING!!! whats up with that anyway

 

[BVS]

I have a friend who managed a AF store. He's hispanic. He was told out right that he was hired because "people were getting on them to fill a quota". They are very paticular about image. All men and women had to get manicures and pedicures. And the worse story he told me was that they had weigh-ins. They wouldn't put people on shift for several days if they gained weight. They had some pretty dirty business practices, after he quit he told me quite a bit.

 

[oliveu2cm]

the show made a good point with FUBU and stuff like that

My retaliation to this point the show makes is that- if I, a white woman, went to FUBU and applied for a job, would I be denied that job based on my race? And does this happen across the board? If so, that's a problem too. But---- just because a store has a high percentage of one race working for them doesn't necessarily mean it's discrimination. It could mean that other people simply aren't applying for those jobs.

That appears to be different in AF, where people of many races are applying for jobs and getting told outright things like: "We can't rehire you because we already have too many Filipinos working at this store." -source

Also, FUBU (or similiar stores) do not claim to make "All American Clothing." I don't think it's fair to claim an image is "all-american" when it includes only thin, model, blond/blue-eyed image.

 

[oliveu2cm]

I have a friend who managed a AF store. He's hispanic. He was told out right that he was hired because "people were getting on them to fill a quota". They are very paticular about image. All men and women had to get manicures and pedicures. And the worse story he told me was that they had weigh-ins. They wouldn't put people on shift for several days if they gained weight. They had some pretty dirty business practices, after he quit he told me quite a bit.

weigh-ins?

this is crazy.

 

[U2Kitten]

on your sig picture

Thanks! See you in PLEBA!

 

[BVS]

Also, FUBU (or similiar stores) do not claim to make "All American Clothing." I don't think it's fair to claim an image is "all-american" when it includes only thin, model, blond/blue-eyed image.

Yeah it would be interesting to see how that works with a company like FUBU. "For Us By Us" is what it stands for, so it would be interesting to know their hiring practices.

 

[Citron]

studies show that male door-to-door salespersons are more successful than females. i guess that justifies sexual discrimination in hiring practices. according to pure capitalism, anything is justified if it is economically viable. however this is not socially justified. some people should start reading up on the french revolution. the specifics may change, but the concepts remain the same. it's only a matter of time.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

a coworker of mine's son actually has been in a few a/f ads... he's black

 

[Northeast]

Thanks! See you in PLEBA!

Yeah see you there

 

[Northeast]

Also, FUBU (or similiar stores) do not claim to make "All American Clothing." I don't think it's fair to claim an image is "all-american" when it includes only thin, model, blond/blue-eyed image.

your right there.....but I dont' think that is AF's fault.....isn't that the image that has been around for years....the all american look being blond hair blue eyes....jock...wearing polo...stuff like that

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

All men and women had to get manicures and pedicures. And the worse story he told me was that they had weigh-ins. They wouldn't put people on shift for several days if they gained weight. They had some pretty dirty business practices, after he quit he told me quite a bit.

Thanks for sharing that w/ us

How disgusting, doesn't surprise me though. How can they get away w/ that stuff? It's about time ex-employees blow the whistle on them.

And I'd be willing to bet they put African Americans in their ads to "fill a quota" too. I'm sure your coworker's son is quite handsome and qualified headache, but I don't see where they use African Americans in their ads on a regular basis. Of course I could be wrong about that... I really don't care to look at their "ads".

 

[*BOOMCHAA!*]

I have a friend who managed a AF store. He's hispanic. He was told out right that he was hired because "people were getting on them to fill a quota". They are very paticular about image. All men and women had to get manicures and pedicures. And the worse story he told me was that they had weigh-ins. They wouldn't put people on shift for several days if they gained weight. They had some pretty dirty business practices, after he quit he told me quite a bit.

hmm...I'm not going to take up for A&F...but I will tell you I worked there and didn't face any of this.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

All of this sounds crazy. I didn't see that show...but just from the various things people have said about the show and the stores in general and stuff in this thread....

I have bad memories of Abercrombie & Fitch-I've never been in one of their stores, but I knew kids at my high school in the town I originally was from who wore those clothes-they were the uppity rich kids. And according to them, apparently, since I didn't wear their clothes, since my stuff was hand-me-downs or was from KMart, I was some sort of freak. .

Angela

 

[BVS]

hmm...I'm not going to take up for A&F...but I will tell you I worked there and didn't face any of this.

I don't know it may have just been his market. I mean he got treated well(with the exception of the quota statement), he's a great sales person and manager, but he just hated the things that were going on around him. He finally said morally he just couldn't do it.

 

[Justified]

I have had a problem with A&F since they decided to market underware for little girls that had "eye candy" studded on the backs!

 

[meegannie]

I just want to say yay for someone else thinking their clothes are poor quality! I went into an AF store once to look at sweaters, and most of the sweaters had huge holes where the hangers had torn through the stitching.

I have one or two A&F shirts....I think I gave one away when I moved, but I can't remember........Anyway, I only have them because a friend gave them to me when she decided she didn't want them anymore, and I always take free clothes when they're offered.