How Abercrombie & Fitch Became Cool Again

It goes beyond TikTok.
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Courtesy of Abercrombie & Fitch. COMPOSITE BY LIZ COULBOURN.

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Fashion is currently digging up some of the most hated-on Y2K trends and resuscitating long-forgotten brands while doing so. Juicy Couture, for example, has risen again with timely collabs and somewhat updated exclusive velour tracksuits at JCPenney. However, it is Abercrombie & Fitch that is really making the most of its second chance.

No stranger to frequent rebrands (seriously, the retailer used to outfit outdoorsmen and presidents), Abercrombie & Fitch is ditching the hoodies stitched with oversize logos and low-rise jeans it was once known for in favor of more trendy silhouettes and color palettes. The brand has banished its early 2000s “preppy surfer” look to another realm and used social-first marketing, specifically on TikTok, to make a name for itself in a demanding Gen Z marketplace — and it's working.

Courtesy of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Courtesy of Abercrombie & Fitch.

It's not just sponsored ads and partner posts that have aided in Abercrombie & Fitch's 2021 metamorphosis. It's also the millions of organic videos uploaded under #abercrombiehaul and #abercrombiestyle that have truly skyrocketed the brand into its new viral status. Several clips, including @andy_lobos’s video on the brand’s logo-less hoodies, have over one million views. To the surprise of nobody, those products have gone on to quickly sell out on Abercrombie & Fitch’s website.

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“Over the past few years, we’ve been laser-focused on listening to our customers and TikTok has been the perfect platform for fostering that communication,” Carey Collins Krug, Abercrombie Brands' senior vice president and head of marketing, tells Teen Vogue. “We watch the reviews and hauls of our products. We take notes of how people describe the quality and fit. There’s an authenticity innate to TikTok and its entire community that has allowed us to humanize Abercrombie.”

TikToker and Abercrombie VIP shopper Celesta (@itscelesta) experienced this firsthand. In September, she posted a video of must-have styles from the brand, including a pair of pleather pants she had recently ordered. It received over 260,000 views and completely sold out the pants. And she revealed in another TikTok, that the demand was so overwhelming she couldn’t exchange them for a different size.

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Celesta has shopped the brand since she was a preteen and told Teen Vogue about 80 percent of her closet is Abercrombie & Fitch. As a longtime customer, she has seen a vast difference in the old Abercrombie versus the new. “Being Asian American, none of the models looked like me,” she said of the early to mid-aughts Abercrombie & Fitch. “It didn’t feel the most inclusive. Abercrombie was selling us this idea of being white, skinny, and beautiful. I’ve slowly started to see the changes they were making with the clothes.”

While TikTok has become the key component in Abercrombie’s rebrand, it’s ironic to find that the brand itself only has about eleven thousand followers on the app and exactly 30 videos at the time of writing. The brand seems to rely on partnerships with inclusive, fashion-focused TikTokers to do the heavy lifting in terms of social footprint and name recognition.

Recently, the brand partnered with Style, Not Size, composed of Maria Castellanos (@mariacastellanos_ri) and Denise Mercedes Marte (@denisemmercedes), to co-create a collection for fall. The content creators and body-positive activists are best known for trying the same outfits on different sizes and body types. 

“It’s mind-blowing how much more of you you can show when brands aren’t the ones judging and how much society changes when they aren’t being told by the industry what is beauty,” Castellanos says of Abercrombie’s push for inclusivity. “It’s much more inviting.” Marte agrees. “I would’ve never thought that a pair of Abercrombie jeans could look so good on me. Abercrombie has come a long way with today’s fashion.”

TikTok may contribute to a majority of the brand’s sudden resurgence, but Abercrombie & Fitch’s push for size inclusivity and representation in ads has drawn in new clientele on its own. The brand’s Denim Your Way campaign included Abercrombie & Fitch's new Curve Love jeans, which go up to size 14 and are available in three lengths.

Curve Love 90s Ultra High Rise Straight Jeans

Curve Love High Rise Dad Jeans

“Abercrombie today isn’t about ‘fitting in,’ but instead is focused on creating [a] space where everyone genuinely belongs,” Krug explains. “That evolution really started in 2017 when Fran Horowitz took the reins as CEO and since then she has ushered in the spirit of inclusivity and acceptance you see woven throughout the fabric of the company today.”

“The clothes definitely weren’t what you would call inclusive,” millennial customer Ashley Alese Edwards tells Teen Vogue of shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch in the early aughts. “I remember having to squeeze into their extremely low-rise jeans, which was not easy for someone who has wider hips. The ads were the very opposite of inclusive; everyone was tall, white, and blonde.” She abandoned both the preppy style and the retailer for several years, but the brand’s more modern, staple-focused offerings drew her back in. “I love what they’re doing and how they’re using ‘real’-looking people in their ads. I finally have jeans that fit my waist and butt. They’ve definitely won me over.”

Courtesy of Abercrombie & Fitch.

Previously, Abercrombie & Fitch only stocked up to a size 10 and did not offer XL or XXL options for women, although it did for men. Krug confirmed to Teen Vogue that the brand is committed to expanding its range of sizes and proving they are no longer a brand that thrives on exclusivity. “As our new assortments begin to set in late December, you’ll see us continue to expand the size and fit offerings across denim as well as bring that focus to the entire outfit through our most popular tops, dresses, and outerwear,” Krug says. “Inclusivity is so much more than the models you cast for a photo shoot... It also means weaving considerations for gender, body shape, size, height, and ability into your designs.”

While Abercrombie knows it still has a long way to go to become completely inclusive with plus-size shoppers, under the direction of Horowitz the brand does seem to be more dedicated to inclusivity than they have been in the past. It’s even convincing old customers to return, something Krug describes as an “exciting” step for the new Abercrombie. And this is only the beginning of the brand's comeback. 

With more product categories and styles planned for 2022 and beyond, Krug says Abercrombie & Fitch is “not even close to being finished” reinventing itself, with intention and purpose at its core.

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