A quick overview of the retailer’s various controversies (many via this handy slideshow):
- Selling t-shirts with printed with perceived Asian slurs. [2002]
- Hiring wacky Slovenian theorist Slavoj Zizek to write copy for its clothing catalogue*. [2003]
- Class action suit claiming employment discrimination due to race. [2003]
- Earning a spot in the International Labor Rights Forum’s Sweatshop Hall of Shame, for the company’s exploitation of Filipino factory workers.
- Suit filed by male model, claiming he was instructed to masturbate during a photoshoot. [2011]
- Reporters discover a 40-page dress code for all models and actors hired to work on the Abercrombie private jet. Example: Flip-flops are mandatory aboard Airbercrombie**. (2012)
- Most recently, there was a giant uproar when the public learned that Abercrombie & Fitch didn’t want non-thin, non-beautiful people to shop at its stores. (2013)
The youth brand’s latest offense: Jefferies reportedly hates black clothing so much that the corporate culture at the company’s headquarters in Columbus, Ohio discourages employees from wearing black to work.
“It even applies to coats in the winter,” an anonymous employee told Business Insider.
After being tipped off to the story, BI reached out to Abercrombie for a statement.
“Abercrombie & Fitch does not sell black clothing and discourages wearing it at our home office and in our stores, because we are a casual lifestyle brand and feel black clothing is formal. We have nothing against black clothing and feel it is perfectly appropriate for things like tuxedos.”
One of my greatest fears about having kids one day is that they’ll want to wear Abercrombie.
Previously: Not ‘Thin and Beautiful’? Abercrombie & Fitch Doesn’t Want Your Money
*Kidding, that was weird and wonderful.
**See what I did there?