Polo-shirts in focus: Abercrombie and Fitch

August 15th, 2008

Origins

The company was established by David Abercrombie in 1892 and New York lawyer Ezra Fitch was one of his regular customers – buying outdoor clothing for shooting and hunting. At the turn of the century Fitch bought a major share of the company, thus becoming co-founder and in 1904, Fitch’s surname was incorporated and Abercrombie & Fitch came into being. It was a stormy relationship - Fitch saw value in taking the company in the direction of general apparel, while Abercrombie wanted to continue selling professional clothing and accessories to professional outdoorsmen. Finally, after many arguments, Abercrombie sold his share in the company to Fitch in 1907 and returned to manufacturing outdoor goods.

Signature style

The A&F brand is defined as using ‘the finest cashmere, pima cottons, and highest quality leather to create the ultimate in casual, body conscious clothing’. Along with ‘implementing and/or incorporating time honoured machinery and techniques in order to produce the most exclusive denim ever created’, these two statements define how Abercrombie & Fitch sees its place in the market.

Why we love them

There is something quintessentially American about the brand. See a ‘Crombie from half a street away and you know the style immediately. It’s not just in the distressing, although that often makes the clothes look like comfortable things you’ve had for months, even straight from the shelf, it’s in the detailing: the flat turned seams and the dropped shoulders, and the careful attention to decreasing/increasing American teen sizes that allows everybody from the skinny chick to the fat kid to find a polo-shirt that feels just right.

They even have their own slang:

• An Abercrombie zombie is a man or wom an, boy or girl who only ever wears their clothing
• An Abercrombie & Fitch witch is a woman (often a bit older than the average buying age for their lines) who wears t he brand all the time because she’s scared she’ll lose her looks and popularity if she doesn’t.

Dissenting views

They have often been criticised for sexualising young people and children, for the levels of music in their stores (it’s supposed to be 80 decibels, tests in the USA in 2006 found thirty stores playing it at 90+ decibels, which causes permanent damage to the ears) and their All-American styling which has led to discrimination cases being brought against the company by non-white, non-American people who believe they have been refused employment or promotion because they didn’t fit the brand ‘style’. So far, all cases have been settled out of court.

Abercrombie & Fitch billboard courtesy of daniel spils

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Related posts:

1. Polo-shirts in focus: Fruit of the Loom
2. Polo-shirts in focus: Polo Ralph Lauren
3. Polo-shirts in focus: Gant
4. Wimbledon Polo-shirts
5. Free polo-shirts (but there are catches!)

Entry Filed under: Fashion history, Kids Clothes, Polo Shirts, casual wear, famous clothing, mens clothing