“He doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people,”- Robin Lewis, author of 'The New Rules of Retail'
“It’s… everything. That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that.”
"In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we 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't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."
This story particularly hits me hard. I remember when I was growing up and in high school, I never wore Abercrombie. I didn't care too either. I remember walking into the stores sometimes while in the mall and seeing them carry these graphic t-shirts that had their brand on it, or shirts with sayings on it, and that just was not my style. They were just regular t-shirts and were extremely costly. What was the big deal? I did not understand why the kids in my school wore this brand so much and had to have it. I liked garments that were stylish and different. That was one of my downfalls. I moved to the high school I graduated from in the tiny town of Reidsville, NC in October of my freshman year (2003). I had one person I knew going in there, and that was it. I did not grow up with these people nor did I have a big group of friends to welcome me in. And I definitely did not fit in. I can tell you what 90% of the people wore on a daily basis to school; Birkenstock shoes, Abercombie or American Eagle jeans, and the graphic t-shirts from Abercrombie. That's it. If you were apart of the "prep's", the "jock's", the "super cool kids" - you had to wear this. You had to fit the mold. You absolutely could not be different. I remember hearing people make of other kids that did not wear these name brand clothing. As I have talked about in multiple, previous entries, I was made fun of and teased relentlessly. I dressed differently and refused to change and I paid the price. I did try though; once. I remember my sophomore year, after being at that school for a year, I did buy one Abercrombie shirt that had lemons on it and said something about a lemonade stand (I mean really) and I wore it one time. I just could not do it. It was not my thing. However, at my high school, Abercrombie really did it's job. As you see in the above quotes, Mark Jeffries wants his brand to target the 'cool kids' and it has. I was not a 'cool kid' nor did I wear their brand and people made sure I knew. I was not worthy of the friendship of these people. I wanted to be, but I looked different so I couldn't be.
My problem with Abercrombie is not that they do not make their clothes for people who are bigger than their size "L" in tops or size "10" in jeans. They do not have to target their clothing to every size. There is no problem with that. My problem is the absolutely disgusting message they are sending out to people. Their main customers are teenagers and young adults. I was very impressionable back then, as are so many children. What this man is stating is because a boy or girl may not be thin enough to fit in their garments, they are not beautiful. Are we to be defined of being beautiful by our size? According to Jeffries and the brand he represents, yes. If you want to be a 'cool kid' or popular, you wear their brand. They are elite and only the worthy can have their brand. If you have experience in retail, are sales and customer service oriented, but do not fit their mold for being 'thin and beautiful', you are disqualified for a job. This is a retail store, not an acting or commercial job. I wonder if Mark Jeffries ever thought about a wealthy person who is maybe plus size or bigger, but has thin children and wanted to buy them a gift or a giftcard for his store?
I have read some comments contrary to what this man has said about his brand. "What about Rolex? Are they discriminating because of their prices?", "Mercedes does the same thing, they are expensive and target to the wealthy, are they to be banned as well?". The issue here is completely different. Those said brands are not engaging in interviews bashing people of a certain wealth or size. They price their items and they do not say anything else about it. There is no issue about that. The issue and the main problem with this company is their CEO has sent a damaging message to people.
I can only hope that parents and educators talk to their children about this. Mr. Jeffries comments have spread like wildfire and are continuing to do so. Most teenagers have a social media account of some kind and will see the articles. Bullying and eating disorders are such a problem and Jeffries comments about his brand promote it. If I were still in my early teen's reading his comments, I would feel crushed. I would try and get as thin as I could so I could be beautiful. I would yearn to be the "All American cool kid" as so many others would. It is important to send the message to your children, your friends, your peers; being thin does not make you a beautiful person. Wearing a certain brand does not make you a 'cool kid' or 'popular' - this is not how we are defined as people.
My weight loss journey can be read here.
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