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Abercrombie & Fitch (commonly referred to as ‘A&F’) is an American clothing company that specializes in producing fashionable sporting apparel and is considered an international designer label. It is a globally renowned brand of clothing, featuring their iconic men’s polo T-shirts with their trademark moose logo. A&F has a distinct style and cut and has termed their own apparel as ‘Casual Luxury’.

The brand operates three flagship stores and a whole multitude of smaller branches. The three flagship megastores are located in Fifth Avenue (New York City), The Grove (Los Angeles) and Savile Row (London). There are plans to open a new international flagship store in Tokyo in early 2009.

The distinctive features of Abercrombie & Fitch clothing is the graphical humour and unabashed jibes at certain parts of the American society. This drew mixed reactions from consumers in America, some being outraged at how sports or minority were being ridiculed; some adored the slapstick humour and blatant insults dished out. As a result of all the hype, A&F was labelled a brand pandering to the ‘white, American pretty boys and girls’ and is ‘all about sex, something this country is so cynical about’.

This generated much criticism for A&F, with many groups such as religious and minority groups boycotting the label. One example occurred in November 2005, when Abercrombie & Fitch launched a T-shirt that read ‘Who needs brains when you have these?’, in a blatant reference to large breasts and dumb females. The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania launched a nation-wide ‘girl-cott’ of the store in response to the undermining of females. Eventually the company stopped production of the T-shirts, however, it left much negative publicity on the brand.

Gradually, the theme and styles of Abercrombie & Fitch clothing evolved. Less emphasis is put on loud and shocking designs on T-shirts, but rather more focus was put into improving the materials and cuts of their clothing. The iconic Abercrombie polo tees feature their distinctive muscle-fit and trademark stripes, made of high-grade sueded cotton. The moose logo is embroidered in most designs and they come with unique double-layer velvet neck taping.

Most complaints are that the A&F label is grossly overpriced. Also, there were many comments that A&F is racist, not employing minority sales personel and models. Yet, we still do see A&F using black and Asian models and sales staff, especially in New York.

Price, I feel, is a big deterrent for potential consumers. I refer to, not only the retail price, but also the absurb shipping costs A&F levy on overseas shipping. As A&F only have international outlets in London and Canada, most international buyers would have to pay for the item, as well as the shipping fees, which is more expensive than the item in most cases.

Basically, Abercrombie & Fitch is your trendy, upscale teen store but its successful branding sets it apart from others. You will definitely find the clothes to be of good quality, with exceptional materials and workmanship. The styles appeal greatly to the mainstream consumers, my personal favourite are the Muscle-fit and Classic-fit for men’s polo T-shirts. The trademark sueded material from A&F makes their clothing supremely comfortable to wear, even in the humid conditions in Asia. Even without physically entering the Asian market, it has already successfully carved out a niche for itself. Thus is the success of the branding of the label. Price aside, I do hope that Abercrombie & Fitch would expand further into Asia, as the styles are exceptionally trendy and fashionable, and spare me the agony of paying for shipping.

Find the Abercrombie & Fitch Store nearest you or Click here to buy some of the Abercrombie & Fitch products
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