Talk about an article that caused uproar?
It wasn’t the comments, however ridiculous, that made me
stop and think while reading this article. It was the idea that a man, a
wealthy man, has based his income and brand on being “cool” around the idea that someone, a high school kid, wearing his brand
is cool, and boom, his brand is cool. This marketing strategy of “all-american
kid” with an increased tone of sexuality is working (they’ve been around for 22
years). So um, way to go, sir?
In every school there
are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” he
told the site. “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. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody:
young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t
alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either,” he told Salon
So in turn, does wearing Abercrombie make you cool? What if
those “vanilla” kids begin to wearing Abercrombie? How does the cycle of
all-american kid work for you then? Oh right, it will work because you are out
to sell clothes. Anything contributing to the idea of “Wear Abercrombie-Become
Cool” is a winning situation for you. Just another example of how, to quote my mother, the great philosopher: High school never ends. It wasn’t Abercrombie for me, although it was worn; plus, I did wear a uniform
to school every day soooo, again, tough to fully say whether it effected coolness factor or not. The “cool” kids wore white sneakers and light blue
puffy jackets. And let me tell ya, the pictures from middle school, regardless
of clothing brand, will all be laughed at and mocked come senior year.
“He doesn’t want
larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people,” Lewis
said. “He doesn’t want his core customers to see people who aren’t as hot as
them wearing his clothing. People who wear his clothing should feel like
they’re one of the ‘cool kids.’
I’m very aware this is not the point of the article, nor is
it the uproar that is being discussed. The point is to publicly shame a wealthy
man speaking about fat chicks wearing his clothes. Um, designer clothes, if I’m
not mistaken, are not made for ‘fat’ chicks either. Why harp on a man who has
just conformed to the societal standards that the fashion industry has created?
And that begs the question: Why limit the idea of self-expression to only those
humans who have a waste size of 0-2? If I wanted to express myself as an
Abercombie Fitch “cool” kid, I would, but I don’t and didn’t wish to prior to
his remarks. Do his remarks change how I feel about Abercombie? No. Not in the
least. Am I slightly disgusted by a man taking the time to explain that he
hates non-good looking “fat chicks" wearing his clothes? Absolutely, because
anytime a man degrades a woman (or to use his term: chick) is disgusting regardless of the woman’s size,
shape, or structure. Am I going to use the same ammunition, however
unattractive the man is, back at him? No, because we, ladies, are better than
that.
Fashion is a way of self expression. Express yourself in a
way in which the world will take notice. Not because of the brand you wear or
the size the tag says but because it says something about you. No one can take that
away.
*steps off soapbox*
Yours xx
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