Kidding Around the Label

To "kids" or not to kids," that is the question...

Esteeped in classic cool, the childrenswear version of Abercrombie & Fitch has been marketed as "abercrombie" since its launch back in 1998. The brand has been conventionally refered to as "abercrombie kids" merely to avoid confusion do to the fact that A&F is simply referenced to as "Abercrombie" (also for conventional reasons).

In type: "Abercrombie" means A&F and "abercrombie" means abercrombie. But lowercase is not identifiable in speech so that there is a confusion. For example: "I went shopping at abercrombie." Where? Abercrombie, Abercrombie or abercrombie, abercrombie? On wikipedia a while ago, one editor changed the name of the abercrombie kids article to "Abercrombie & Fitch kids," and it was quickly dealt with thanks to me. And on wikipedia, I have never referred to A&F as simply "Abercrombie" because that just creates teh aformentioned confusion. Abercrombie & Fitch though about actually alleviating the issue by revamping the label to include "kids." This has messed with the tradition and aesthetic appeal of the label, and we'll explore why:

The original "abercrombie" label.

The advertised, single form of "abercrombie" (lowercase and navy) is aesthetically appealing and utterly attractive. The alphabetic construction of the lowercase name creates a near-symetrical illusion to the eye. And therein lies the beauty of the label, its near perfect symetry.

The recent alternation to the once perfect label

Recently, however, the Company has begun to mess with the perfection of the iconic label by adding "kids" to it. The addition of "kids" was begun in Christmas 2009 as "abercrombie kids" appeared in red and bold for the holidays. The alternation has been used continuously since. Poof. Gone is the near-symetry and with it one of the most appealing labels in the industry. It has become extremely frustrating these past few seasons as the Company continues to settle for the conventional instead of for the aspirational - first, the recycled marketing and now this - with the conventional as being able to designate the difference between Abercrombie and abercrombie. The addition is not, to say, horrible, because it actually looks pretty damn nice anyway. But the point is that it is an unnecessary addtion. The new web look of abercrombiekids.com prominently features "abercrombie kids" as the official label.

There is another version of the label that includes "kids," but in a mininized and appropriate proportion. The formulation of this particular stylized version of the label was done to mimic that of the new symetrical Abercrombie & Fitch version. This label (right image )is used on clothing and also sporatically when advertizing.

More to the point, kids do not want to be told that they are "kids"! Am I right, or am I right?

SoCal Waves to Crash Over China!

Hollister is surfing into China, initiating expansion into the Asian market, and totally heating things up!

It's been a very dry season for China, and there are talks that it might have to import major amounts of grain to supplement the subsequent loss of crop. But China needs not worry because SoCal waves are about to crash over the Middle Kingdom! Okay. Fine. This will not aliviate the drought (and the People's Republic should still worry over the lack of water!), but it'll sure splash its youth with the hottest styles from across the pacific!

According to the latest A&F Earnings Call Transcript (4Q 2011), the Company is gearing up to finally launch Hollister into the Asian market. A&F is scheduled to finally open HCo's first ever Asian locations in mainland China, and Hong Kong, in 2011! And there is no short of reason for this move..

The Chinese market is evergrowing and the consumer base ever-expanding as the nation continues to experience formidble economic growth: China surpassed Japan to become the second largest economy in the summer of 2010, and it is forcasted to surpass the United States by 2035. Days before this post, the New York Times published an article highlighting this feat by including China's economic worth of $5.88 trillion compared to Japan's $5.47 trillion. China itself is the third largest consumer of luxury goods in the world (only behind the USA and JPN and likely to move up the ladder), and so the demand for all things exclusive is great. So logically, scores of businesses have landed on its shores to take a piece of that ever delicious rice cake of Chinese consumerism!

With all this growing consumerism comes a constantly growing niche of teens with yuan to spend on the latest and cooles of fashions! And therein lies the reason for Hollister's move into China, my favorite dudes and bettys! HCo plans on surfing into China to establish itself as the hottest label for the coolest (and priviledged) kids in town! A location in Hong Kong is in order, but as to where else in manland China is not yet publically known.

But why will the first HCo open in China and not in Japan as the first A&F did? After all, A&F's first locale in Europe was in the UK and HCo soon followed suit there as well. A&F's presence in the UK is, as of now, focused in London with a flagship that commands an already-established, faithful following. Meanwhile, HCo has just begun to operate stores throughout the rest of nation. The reverse is occuring in Japan: A&F has expanded its presence throughout Japan. The opening of an HCo could cause a cannibalistic effect on A&F sales in Japan as the brand is just begining to establish a faithful follwing in the market. Hollister has become a sibling rival of Abercrombie & Fitch and there is no space in the market for two siblings to attempt growth on the same ground, at the same time; an internal battle for profit is to be avoided. Curiously enough, the Company has for now skipped on China and placed Singapore as the next place for the A&F brand to expand into.  

In China, HCo will find fertile economic ground, unlike the sorry agriculture, and it will produce a bountiful surplus of financial feed for the Home Office. Oh, yes, operations in China will be paramount! Just imagine: the stores will be totally 'bursting' with people. The SoCal-crazed shoppers will be madly rushing in and satisfyingly walking out with newfound swanky swagger. Carrying HCo bags in hand, what more could the Chinese teen need as a social status indicator - perphaps a future A&F?...As if the Middle Kingdom couldn't have gotten any more cooler!

Models so Hot They were Featured More than Once! | James Preston...

James Preston as the main face of Abercrombie & Fitch Spring 2011 (image source)

Profile shot of Preston in Spring 2011 (image source)

James Preston is the main model of the Abercrombie & Fitch Spring 2011 marketing campaign. So that makes it his second appearance in a campaign for A&F. Last year, Preston was featured in the Spring 2010 A&F Book. The A&F Book was a great online gallery of photography shot by Bruce Weber for the Spring 2010 season, and it was in a sense a warm up to the launch of A&F Quarterly Screen Test for Back-to-School 2010. The guy was also the main face of abercrombie for the Summer 2008 fashion season. Interestingly enough, he is an actor (if anyone didn't know) and has locked in screentime in The Gates and Blue Bloods. Check out the previous shots below:

Preston as the main face of abercrombie summer 2008 | Photographer: Bruce Weber

Another shot of Preston for abercrombie summer 2008 | Photographer: Bruce Weber

Another shot of Preston for abercrombie summer 2008 | Photographer: Bruce Weber

Preston with mindblowing hair in the A&F Book Spring 2010 | Photographer: Bruce Weber

For some strange reason, Abercrombie & Fitch has his name as James Flook in A&F Casting. Note that Preston in noted as an A&F store model: He was previously posted as an HCo. model  What a cover-up...

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This is a first in the Models so Hot They were Featured More than Once! series of posts highlighting models that have been featured in numerous marketing campaigns for either one or multiple A&F Family brands.

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Abercrombie Siblings Get Revamped Online



The new look of abercrombie.com as of February 9, 2010 (image source)

The websites for Abercrombie & Fitch and abercrombie have been given a refreshingly new makeover! Newly reimagined, the online content has been reorganized and given a clean and bold appearance. The logos, huge and stately, once again reign over head on every page, in their beautiful Adobe Garamond typeface, ever so elegantly omnipresent. The main content (mens, womens, kids, casting, and playlist for A&F; and guys, girls, and playlist for abercrombie) is centered under the logos while the other miscellaneous content (stores, subscribe, wish list, and sign in/account/register) is made available to the far right hand of the overhead. All other information is found at the bottom, ofcourse. All the merchandise is amazingly placed on a grid so that you can campare multiple items all at once unlike the previous linear model. The look books are gone, too. Sad, but a well.

This design is not original, however. It is an adaptation of the web design for gillyhicks.com that was introduced in July 2010 after the website was downgraded from its amazing Adobe Flash Player (AFP) graphics. The appearance itself is nice, but it is so unoriginal and takes away the individuality of A&F/abercrombie that set it apart online from its sibling brands. Going from abercrombie.com to gillyhicks.com and seeing everything presented in the same way is just lame. Yes, people will now get the idea that A&F and Gilly Hicks are from the same company, but it has gone to far. It is the completely same format and chokes their individuality, preventing them from having their own customized and personal space.

So far, this post has discussed the "look" of the design, but the manner in which the whole thing loads is another matter. The software, or whatever (I'm not a tech geek), used to bring the website to life is not ideal for the type of brand image that A&F has accumulated. It is very cumbersome, simple, cheap and annoying. The graphics load unprecisely: They randomly pop into place at differing times, seconds apart, and when you click on "tops," for example, there is no fluidity dropping of the categories but a refreshing of the entire page. It would have been completely admirable if the company had instead upgraded the websites to Adobe Flash Player graphics by making the over all experience online a visual treat, galore!

When the ruehl.com online store was launched, the website was a wonderful and smooth experience worthy of the upscale and sophicticated brand that was Ruehl. When the gillyhicks.com online store was launched, A&F also promoted the website to AFP and it was even more graphically graceful than ruehl.com. Then gillyhicks.com was downgraded to cheap software. The online website for A&F and abercrombie was similar to ruehl.com but it was not operating on AFP. A promotion to AFP would have been ideal and would have been recieved as a proud move by the company in its effort to further move the image of A&F as a respectable and serious international brand.

Many retailers have been wary of launching online stores because they fear that they can not present their online content in an elegant and sophiticated manner worthy of their image. The software employed for HCo. is appropriate for the HCo. brand because it is just a a lower-end brand. The downgrade of GH to a cheaper format was sad because it brought down its potential to cultivate a sophicticated image online, and Gilly is now an easy, simple girl online, but it nevertheless fits with the brand in its current state as an infant brand. The old format for A&F and abercrombie was great for the brands, but an upgrade to higher-grade graphics would have been expected from a now international company that wants to propel its image further up the latter. Instead, the Company downgraded to a format worthy of its only-growing-in-America, pre-international years and not of an international, multi-billion dollar brand commanding worldwide respect. Come on now, Abercrombie & Fitch, you are opening on Champs-Élysées in Paris this year...an sophisticated and cool upgrade to higher-grade graphics would have been explosively awesome!

So...basically, the look is nice, but the platter you're serving it on totally sucks! Instead of serving eye-candy on a paper plate, try serving it on porcelain. Seriously, numerous fans on the official Facebook page commented on their dislike for the website. The whole thing is a let down, honestly! It is convenient, but not so enjoyable. Whatever happened to being FIERCE?

Abercrombie Gets Re-Sued Over Stitching

Right: A pair of Levi Strauss jeans; left: a pair of A&F womens jeans.

The SF Appeal reports that a legal battle between Levi Strauss & Co. and Abercrombie & Fitch is back on. The San Fransisco 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned on 8 February 2011 a 2009 ruling over the lawsuit by Levi Strauss over A&F. The lawsuit (filed in 2007) deals with the fact that Levi Strauss believes A&F has "weakened the value of the trademark arch pattern on the back pocket of Levi's blue jeans." According to Levi Strauss, the back stitching of A&F's jeans for women implements a similar version of the Levi's signature stitching. To that effect, Levi Strauss conducted survey in which 30% of its participants said that they though both jeans were made by the same company. A&F fired back by calling the whole thing flawed. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White concluded, in 2009, that Levi Strauss had not proven that the designs were identical or near identical and ruled in A&F's favor. But now a panel of judges have brought into light the "correct standard" of the Trademark Dilution Revision Act which says that the trademarks don't have to be identical or near-identical but similar and resulting in blurring recognition by the consumer.

First off, the whole thing sounds like a completely pathetic attempt by Levi Strauss to bring down any form of competition. And at first, the "similarity" is not noticeable. But after careful study and some serious mental visualization, it can be seen why Levi has a pursued this. Look at the back stitching of a pair of Levi's jeans. Pretend that there is a hinge on the point were the two arches meet. Now swing the right arch over to the left so that the two overlap...now do you see the "similarity" with Abercrombie's womens jeans? But you have to use a lot of imagination and do a lot of visual movement to finally make out the Abercrombie pattern truly similar to the Levi's pattern in your mind.

Does that matter? Hollister's bettys jeans also make use of arches in the back pocket stitching. Does that mean the Levi Strauss is going to sue Abercrombie & Fitch for placing the Levi's arches triumvir-style on either side of each HCo. pocket, too? If Levi Strauss wants to play like that, then Abercrombie & Fitch should sue in return for the use of A&F's signature gray and white on levistrauss.com! Hell, why don't we all find stupid similarities between one another and sue the hell out of each other for our unique rights!?! Just saying...

The Land of Down Undies Gets a Makeover!

Future Gilly stores to be reduced in floor space. Where will it all fit?!? (image source)

The Company has always been riské when it comes to expidentures. The overvalue of the RUEHL concept and lack of profit (as the recession developed) ultimately lead to the closure of the iconic Greenwich Village-inspired brand. Not wanting history to be repeated, Abercrombie & Fitch will reduce gross square feet sales space on the Gilly Hicks brand to accomodate its present financial stand. A new prototype has been developed to accomodate the decision. The future stores will come out at around 5,000 square feet, and this does not affect plans up the road for further openings of Gilly Hicks locations in the United States.

The reduction on sales space is a 50% decrease from the 10,000 square feet of the original prototype developed for the brand when it opened in January 2008. Eric Cerny, who's manager of the Company's investor relations, commented to the Columbus Dispatch that "we're treating those [10,000sqft] stores as if they are 5,000 square feet, [but] unfortunately, we invested in them as if they were 10,000 square feet." Smaller, the new 5,000sqft store will allow for more expansion opportunities into lower tier malls and their opening will signify the ever-growing appeal of the GH brand to a greater consumer base in the US.

And while the Company and its fans keep faith in the GH brand, analysts have another view: "[Gilly Hicks] is possibly the absolute worst chain rollout from a profitability perspective in specialty-apparel history." (anonymous); and "despite modest improvement this year, calculations suggest the chain is still producing sub-$200 sales per square foot. Not good in Class A real estate." And they have a point. The brand was launched at one of the most inopportune moments in financial history. It is hard to still get the consumer to shop, and Gilly has been offering an awful lot of sales in an attempt to lure gals into its romanticized shops. Part of the reason why GH opened in London (November 2010) was to take advantage of the strong international consumer demand for A&F (a wave Gilly hopes to hang ten on)...

Guess we will have to wait and see how the new stores will look like, and, like always, The Sitch will keep you in the know!

Marketing Review: Spring 2011

After craving for weeks for new imagery, the Company has finally blossomed into Spring new and re-envigorating photography! The arrival of the Spring 2011 marketing campaign is a fresh breath of air that has uplifted the instore ambience with brightness and amazement. Sadly, the tendency to recycle old photography has continued to play a role in this season's selection of imagery. Nevertheless, the overall aesthetic is (like always) timeless...

Main marketing image for A&F

•Abercrombie & Fitch: The main image for the season is comepletely in-your-face-branding at its best. It does what it is supposed to do: It captures the essence of A&F with the timeless gaze, physical form and "Abercrombie & Fitch" hovering in the background. Moving on, the couple on the beach make a romantic addition that keeps in mind that love pervades and prevails. The two profile images of the male and the female model make a stately (for the male) and euphoric (for the female) impression of the ideal Abercrombie & Fitch man and woman. The Spring 2011 marketing collection would have been complete and perfect with only these pictures, but A&F wanted to throw in photography from Summer 2006 (featuring the threesome). It seems as if the entire collection takes place on an ever-expansive and brilliant land of euphoria...

Main marketing for abercrombie.

•abercrombie: The marketing initiates with a shout of totally bad ass appeal! It declares, "POW! We're fist pumping abercrombie kids!" And then as you progress, the marketing softens down the bad ass appeal with classic aesthetic iconic of abercrombie kids. In so saying, the collection (which began with a bad boy punch) concludes with the softness and feminity of the the dog and female model. These concluding images (although having been a part of a previous marketing campaign), make a subtle and poised return that The Sitch really can't complain about...

Main image for HCo's "Break for Cali"

•Hollister Co: Amazing. "Break for Cali" Spring 2011 is the best collection of photography Bruce Weber has ever produced for HCo and it is arguably the best collection of this season. This marketing follows in the footsteps of "All I Want in Cali" Christmas 2010 with the use of color, but "Break for Cali" Spring 2011 makes an utterly awe-inspiring and eye-catching use of colors in interlapping, dominating hues of soft blue, green, and brown. The appeal is unprecedented; wonderfully, simply soft and romantic (something never before acquire by HCo's previously hot-and-sexual imagery), and the addition of that adorable, furry friend adds a warm and wholesome feel to it all...again, amazing...

Main image for Gilly Hicks

•Gilly Hicks: What is the point of even discussing the marketing for Gilly Hicks. There are only two images included in this collection and both of the are pictures that were used under the bras category online in 2010. This is a clear sign from Abercrombie & Fitch that it is not about to put much effort (and money) into producing significant marketing for a brand that has yet to produce significant sales...Well, the only nice thing of this Spring are the little bows that were added to the promotional material, but that doesn't make up for the pictorial recycling. That model in the main image: She can smile all she wants. Although nice, her smile is utterly redundant and a bore. I hope you can here the American yawns all the way to Bondi Beach, love...

Update (02/10/11): After this post was made, Vanity Style posted (on February 10, 2011) on the Abercrombie & Fitch campaign. The article, titled Spring 2011 Abercrombie & Fitch, was featured as the first of the three main articles of the day. It highlighted the power of A&F to capture the consumer's attention to its clothing - the irony being that the marketing ever rarely promotes any clothing. Chiseled, youthful beauty is an iconic trademark of A&F, captued in photography by the renown Bruce Weber, and is the sole force behind the success of the brand. Model James Preston is the main face of the campaign, and has been featured in previous A&F and abercrombie campaigns.