{"id":21965,"date":"2022-04-26T13:05:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T09:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=212970"},"modified":"2022-04-26T13:05:34","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T09:05:34","slug":"abercrombie-fitch-documentary-review","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/abercrombie-fitch-documentary-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix’s Abercrombie & Fitch Documentary Shows How Toxic The \u201800s Were"},"content":{"rendered":"

White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch<\/span><\/i> is a new documentary on Netflix<\/a> that\u2019s sparking conversation online \u2013 mainly because we all lived through the American label\u2019s rise to the height of mass fashion, and never questioned the truly toxic culture it both fostered and promoted.<\/span><\/p>\n

We did not have Abercrombie & Fitch in Australia, but if you made a trip to the States at some point, you definitely visited one of the huge stores the brand had dotted across the country. Along with Sephora, H&M and Abercrombie\u2019s sister label, Hollister, it was a must-shop destination for us in our teens and twenties.<\/span><\/p>\n

In America, the label was truly <\/span>the<\/span><\/i> one to be seen wearing in high school and college. As the documentary shows, this was the target market for Abercrombie & Fitch, which makes its messaging and culture all the more horrific. This was a label that was focused on young people, but presented a predominantly white fantasy via its advertising and storefronts, which featured shirtless men on the doors, and hired based on appearances.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Abercrombie was known for hiring men to stand shirtless at its storefront entrances. Image: Netflix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the documentary we hear from ex staff, who describe deeply racist store handbooks that meticulously outlined what staff could or couldn\u2019t wear \u2013 right down to their hair, where \u201cdreadlocks are unacceptable for men and women\u201d, and hairstyles could only be \u201c<\/span>neatly combed, attractive, classic\u201d \u2013 <\/span>in 2015, the Supreme Court ruled against A&F<\/span><\/a> after Samantha Elauf, a sales associate, was told in 2008 her hijab was against the company\u2019s \u201clook policy\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watching the documentary brings a wave of nostalgia as a Millennial who grew up coveting the label, mixed with the horror of realising that, once again, what we adored and perceived as acceptable in the 2000s was actually deeply problematic. For example, another moment the documentary touches on is the rise of slogan tees, which Abercrombie & Fitch became famous for. One infamous slogan tee from the label featured a fake laundry service brand called \u2018Wong Brothers\u2019 with the racist sell \u201ctwo Wongs can make it white\u201d. This shirt, along with others promoting Asian stereotypes, <\/span>led to college protests<\/span><\/a> in 2002.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shirts like these, however, were ubiquitous in the 2000s, as was whitewashed advertising. What is most shocking about the Abercrombie & Fitch story is that it wasn\u2019t just a part of the existing culture with its racism and exclusion, it was working hard \u2013 arguably harder than any other brand at the time \u2013 to market itself as exclusionary.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Abercrombie & Fitch presented a whitewashed American youth via its advertising. Image: Netflix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Under the eye of now-controversial photographer Bruce Weber (fifteen male models spoke to the <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i><\/a> in 2018 about his \u201ccoercive sexual behaviour\u201d and unnecessary nudity), Abercrombie\u2019s ads featured predominantly white men and women, and embodied the \u201800s frat culture popular at the time. Former CEO Mike Jeffries, the man responsible for Abercrombie\u2019s rise in the American zeitgeist, even said in a <\/span>Salon<\/span><\/i><\/a> interview in 2006 <\/span>\u201cWe go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don\u2019t belong [in our clothes], and they can\u2019t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the documentary, models from Weber’s shoots accuse the photographer of sexual misconduct. Image: Netflix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thinking back to the Abercrombie & Fitch stores after watching the documentary, it\u2019s clear that the marketing strategy was one of intimidation. Sizes famously only ran to a Large in the 2000s, and the presence of shirtless men at the door, plus a floor staff of slim, attractive, predominantly white men and women meant shopping at an Abercrombie & Fitch store made me feel this mixture of \u201cwait, am I allowed to shop here\u201d and \u201cif I buy these items, maybe I will look like these people\u201d. You felt bad about yourself and by extension, a desperate need to fit in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By 2017, Abercrombie & Fitch was completely overhauling its image. Jeffries left the business in 2014, and current CEO Fran Horowitz turned that exclusivity into inclusivity \u2013 the Abercrombie site today<\/a> shares a vastly different message to the stores back in the 00s \u2013 at the time of writing, the site was promoting an activewear line that featured a truly diverse range of models, a far cry from the rock-hard ab shots favoured by the brand in the past.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe the surge in interest around the label after <\/span>White Hot: The Rise & Fall Of Abercrombie & Fitch<\/span><\/i> will see a renaissance for the label. If there\u2019s one thing the documentary proves, it\u2019s that change is possible \u2013 when the label wants it.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31333,"featured_media":21983,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[36],"yoast_head":"\nThe Abercrombie & Fitch Documentary Shows How Toxic The \u201800s Were<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch is the new Netflix documentary spurring online conversation around the toxic culture of the 2000s, especially in the fashion industry.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/abercrombie-fitch-documentary-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Netflix’s Abercrombie & Fitch Documentary Shows How 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