Abercrombie&Fitch

After watching Gender Roles in class it got me thinking just how explicit Abercrombie and Fitch’s marketing really is and the true factors behind the success of the business. During the film it mentioned that women and men have a certain image portrayed in advertisement  according to gender. This is especially noticeable in Abercrombie and Fitch’s marketing. I have had first hand experience with seeing just how this affects actually customers face to face.

When I turned 17 years old I decided I finally wanted to have some pocket money and decided to go job searching. A few applications later and an interview later I landed my first job with Hollister. I was ecstatic and ready to start my first day. I went to training before I could officially start when my manager went over store policies and training and most importantly what the companies call “ the look policy”. I was first told that I would be hired into the position of what they call a model that is essentially just a sales representative. My manager gave me a long list of what “ the look policy” consisted of, which was essentially a list of what I could and could not wear, what colors I was allowed to wear, what hairstyles were acceptable and what not also most importantly that I was to wear the brand. I was shocked at all the ridiculous rules that were to be followed just for how I was supposed to look like when I came to work. Just to give you an idea of a few of the rules: I was allowed to only wear gray, navy blue and white, I could not under any circumstance wear any black what so ever ( which included a black hair tie), and could only wear plain flips flops that were either brown, white or nay blue in color.  I ended up working for Hollister for almost three years before transferring this summer to Abercrombie and Fitch. This whole reason for this rant is that I came the company uses the models as advertisement as well media advertisement and both accentuate gender roles. Abercrombie and Fitch uses good-looking people to attract customers and show off the merchandise. One is more likely to notice a skirt and a sweater on an attractive, unique looking girl, rather than an everyday Joe Schmo. For people to think that the clothes look good on others and by making them attractive, customers feel they will have that appeal also.