“The Hottest Styles Are Here”… Not
Abercrombie and Fitch is having a “meltdown,” reports Buzzfeed. Why? Because girls aren’t buying the whole “cool kids wear Abercrombie” thing anymore. Women’s clothing sales have dropped 30% in the last quarter, contributing greatly to an overall 10% decline in business.
Company CEO Mike Jeffries isn’t revealing much about the drop (don’t let ’em see you sweat, eh?). He explains that there is “continued softness in the female business,” but he won’t go into specifics with the public.
Jeffries hopes that the addition of a new underwear line to the Abercrombie and Hollister brands might help the situation. The line is called Gilly Hicks and will offer bras and undies for girls.
Because Of Course No One Can Fall in Love If They Don’t Have The Proper Undergarments
His explanation of the brand doesn’t make me want to go out and buy some lingerie, though. “Gilly Hicks makes the hottest Push ’Em Up bras and the cutest Down Undies for young, naturally beautiful, confident girls,” boasts the company. Wow, they combined the sexualization of young girls and exclusionary body ideals into one neat little sentence. No thanks!
Jeffries has said some pretty icky, distasteful things about women and their bodies and has inspired women to realize that “cool girls,” as Jeffries calls his target demographic, aren’t so into buying clothes from him. Perhaps this will be a wake up call for the company: stop disrespecting women, and maybe you’ll actually be able to sell some clothes. Maybe.
Thanks to Buzzfeed
Images via Buzzfeed
