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| Abercrombie and Fitch, Savile Row, Mayfair, 2008, MW. |
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Abercrombie and Fitch, Savile Row, Mayfair @www.ravishlondon.com "Pounding, bad, cheesy house music; so dark that people were walking into each other; and staff who are obviously employed by a body fascist with an Aryan fixation". Welcome to Abercrombie & Fitch!
The opening statement in this article was left by an anonymous reviewer on the internet. There is a quasi-Nazi inspired to the way the commercial world idealises perfect body form. The first thing that greets you as you enter the discotech clothes shop of Abercrombie and Fitch on Savile Row in Mayfair, is some guy with an unzipped jacket revealing immaculate pecs and a girl with a polaroid camera willing to take a photo of you and your giggling little girlie friends stood next to him (for a price). Abbercombie & Fitch seem to be driven aggressively by a ‘we will fuck all the rules of the land if means can scrape another penny of profit’ dynamism; the kind that ends all arguments about the need to regulate markets. It seems they are prepared to cause as much hassle and controversy as possible, within legal limit, as a marketing tool. Fashion United (26th February, 2007) recently quoted, Mike Jefferies, the retailer’s chief executive as saying, ”We get asked by big malls to turn our music down the whole time. We do and then we turn it back up an hour later." Abercrombie and Fitch’s worship of muscular male teenagers, in as few as clothes possible without it bordering on paedophilia, and of slender thin, and I assume all to willing to submit young girls, naturally appeals to a generation of MTV fuckwits; those who desire power, sexual domination and youth. |
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| Abercrombie and Fitch, Savile Row, Mayfair, 2008, MW. |
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But what makes Abercrombie and Fitch unlike any other clothes shop that I’ve ever been in is the way it takes the conflation of night club culture and clothes shop to the extreme. Once inside, as your ears acclimatise themselves to the sound of pounding dance music your eyes take time to get used to the darkness - there is not one iota of natural light in the place – all the windows (if there are any) are blacked out. Instead what you have is low level lighting illuminating the clothes. Just like a nightclub, the shop even has a balcony on the first floor, where you can watch people walk around, and observe the queues for the changing rooms, which remind you of the ladies queues for the toilets. It can take up to forty-five minutes to actually try your garment on. Anyone who is prepared to do that is either committed to the label or just simply loves to hang out there. You can tell from the incredibly beautiful shop assistants that Abercrombie and Fitch select their staff based on looks and appearance. Tom Mitchelson who got a job at the shop having been spotted by a recruitment officer noted, ‘The unattractive, the overweight and the disabled just don't seem to make it on to the shop floor.’ Abercrombie and Fitch actively train their staff to take a certain approach to customers, including fake smiles. Mitchelson was told to be ‘friendly, outgoing and portray a sexy image.’ One model had told Mitchelson he'd been instructed to smile till his jaw ached. Abercrombie and Fitch often require two of their models to fake dancing and having a great time by the balcony. Take a brief look at the poor buggers plying their trade: You can't see it in this video, but the geezer on the right, who seemed in the dark to have a surprising amount of acne for an Abercrombie and Fitch employee, was looking like he’d been dancing there for forty-eight hours. There was a beautiful Asian girl dancing next to him, who flashed me a fulsome lip-puckering smile. I nearly fell off the balcony. The beautiful people, the beautiful people – I just needed Marilyn Manson to do a gothic invasion – to complete what felt like a music video experience. Beautiful people attract more beautiful people – and you can see a lot of incredibly good looking customers – women and men alike – walking around slowly – staring with this kind of angelic innocence at reflections of themselves in the various mirrors situated around this place. I’m actually enjoying being there looking less than attractive, like something between a mental health patient and a forty-five year old geography teachers who lives at home and whose passions include train sets and Jack the Ripper. Somehow I can imagine the managers and staff and the other beautiful people looking at me and thinking ‘you aren’t what this is about’ and ‘what are you doing in here?’. Mitchelson commented, ‘I thought that if the law permitted it, managers would have exercised quality-control over the customers.’ He notes that a less attractive group of staff, known as the “impact team”, who are sometimes on the shop floor but often work behind the scenes. Despite the criticisms of Abercrombie and Fitch appealing to the baser instincts of kids and adults for sex and youth, the kids and adults just love the sex and the youth at Abercrombie & Fitch. My Youtube videos only get comments from what I imagine are fresh faced dreamers whose lives, aspirations and youtube names it seems are tied into the romance of the American Dream and silver screen. ‘CrazyGirlie22’ for example, says ‘i love this shop, i go all the time !’ Thanks for sharing that with us CrazyGirle22. Meanwhile ‘jamesbond728’ obviously an American with all his ‘omgs’ and ‘likes’ said “omg i went there 2 days ago in mayfair london!! it was so packed with like 80 ppl in the queue!! and btw have u noticed that the sexy chicks that work there ALL were flipflops? why is this? they are soo cute!’ In response ‘Chloebloom’ said “they all wear flipflops because they have to wear a whole outfit of abercrombie and the only shoes they do are flipflops haha”. Jamesbond728 not to be outdone said “cool haha cos they look cute in fliflops :P”. Brilliant, the kids are truly enchanted by the cute sexy world created by A&F. A reviewer on another internet site said, “The store is AWESOME!! The music is BEYOND AWESOME. The workers are all beautiful, starting from the first floor then going up. I dont know why people would hate it. People are just jealous.” And there is no point getting bitter and twisted about what A&F do, they are only spearheading a model of consumerism, which has been in development for the last fifty years. |
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| Abercrombie and Fitch, Savile Row, Mayfair, 2008, MW. |
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The history of Abercrombie & Fitch stretches back to 1892 when they were founded as an elite excursion and sports retailer in New York. In the 1970s the business went bankrupt. The name was purchased by The Limited, who repackaged the company as a populist clothing manufacturer. Clement R Knorr from Arizona wrote, ‘The present operators of Abercrombie & Fitch purchased the name and drove the brand into the infamous state it is today. To an old New Yorker like me it's enough to bring tears to the eye.’ In the 1990s The Limited created A&F stores across the United States, and then relinquished ownership selling A&F off as a publicly traded company. The London store is the first of a number that A&F plan to open in the UK. I’d love to talk to anyone who has worked at A&F in London. Email vanguardonline@hotmail.com |
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| Abercrombie and Fitch, Savile Row, Mayfair, 2008, MW. |
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The arrival of the aggressive and sexually overt Abercrombie & Fitch on the corner of Savile Row caused a good deal of consternation and publicity in 2007. Savile Row, which has been selling bespoke men’s suits for hundreds of years, personifies the classic English personality, of being understated, conservative and quiet. Abercrombie & Fitch is in contrast a very rude, arrogant and unsophisticated G.I. dragging his prostitute date around town looking for the nearest burger bar. Apparently when Abercrombie & Fitch started building work on their Savile Row building, they erected a barricade on which were posted, ‘a two-story parade of buff young men, chests bare and jeans riding low on their hips’ (Hazlett, 2006). Pollen Estates landlords of much of Savile Row, have been accused as cashing in on the Savile Row name, which it has used to attract in companies willing to pay high rent fees, but at the same time compromising and maybe killing off the Savile Row tradition, which ironically its rents depend upon. Thus a case of killing the goose that laid the golden egg? Mark A.V. Henderson, Chief Executive of Gieves & Hawkes, a tailor on Savile Row, was quoted as saying, “Exploiting the Savile Row name to attract high-paying retailers and businesses at the cost of this world-esteemed industry is shortsighted.” (see Hazlett, 2006). James Hall (2006) reports that Pollen Estates plan to redevelop the area around Savile Row to include multiple fashion chain stores. According to Hall, both local tailors and Westminster City Council fear the ‘the introduction of mass-market retailers could jeopardise the street's illustrious heritage’. It has also been said that Pollen Estates intentions, which are to introduce new businesses willing to pay higher rents, may force the tailors out in time. Derbyshire (2006) reported that Anderson & Sheppard, established in Savile Row since the 1920s, was forced out last year by rising rents. It has moved to a smaller shop round the corner in Old Burlington Street. Could Abercrombie & Fitch be the first step in the end of Savile Row? In March 2006 more than 150 cutters, finishers and waistcoat makers took to the street; in protest against rising rents and redevelopment plans. Protesters lined the street clutching shears, swatches and tape measures (Derbyshire, 2006).
For a brief glimpse of Abercrombie and Fitch action in Savile Row visit:
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