Unused Footage for Abercrombie & Fitch Spring 2012 Films Cause Sensation Over "Guy-on-Guy Kiss"...

Passion between fellows in Bruce Weber's sizzling film!
Screenshot from Other Sports Require One Ball. Wrestling Requires Two.
Owned by Bruce Weber  |  Used here for illustrative purposes only  |  (image source)

Perhaps you've heard. Perhaps you haven't. The fashion, marketing, and gay media industries are in a frenzy over some hot footage, by Bruce Weber, featuring a guy-on-guy kiss touted as being an Abercrombie & Fitch marketing move pushing the envelope of homoeroticism in its campaigns. The thing is, that particular footage was never used by A&F in its marketing!

All those industry reporters have it all wrong and are fueling a misunderstanding. There's nothing wrong with some good ole guy love, but that kiss was never a part of A&F's marketing. We here at The Sitch on Fitch know better...

Sometime in late-2011, our favorite photographer Bruce Weber shot video footage for Abercrombie & Fitch of guys wearing exclusively A&F athletic sweat shorts and engaging in athletic activities – primarily wrestling. The Company was at that time preparing its Spring 2012 marketing campaign. A short portion of that footage was used for a small marketing campaign – 'THE MAIN EVENT' – designed to promote the opening of the Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store in Singapore. That video for THE MAIN EVENT – no kissing, only men wrestling – began screening on December 9 on a giant video screen at the top of the Knightsbridge shopping complex 270 Orchard Road where the A&F flagship is located.

It wasn't until February 8 when the Abercrombie & Fitch Spring 2012 marketing campaign was finally released. With it, three short promotional lifestyle films were made available on abercrombie.com under its 'Experience A&F' online feature. Select footage from Weber's original work was chosen for use in the creation of those three films and edited for the A&F Spring 2012 marketing campaign. Only the content of those three films made the final cut to officially be a part of the Spring 2012 marketing campaign...nothing else. (Those three films were removed in late-March as the Summer fashion season was brought in: the three are no longer available at 'Experience A&F' on abercrombie.com).

On February 9, a day after the launch of the A&F Spring 2012 marketing, the official Bruce Weber Facebook page posted, "4 NEW WEB FILMS BY BRUCE WEBER FOR ABERCROMBIE & FITCH now streaming at http://www.bruceweber.com/#/moving_image/webersodes." The four short films are available for viewing under the 'Webersodes' label of bruceweber.com.

1. Basketball is What Men Do During Boys Baseball Season (watch it here) is the only one which is actually a very similar edit as the first film shown on abercrombie.com – same music, scenes, etc – but it is nevertheless a version for bruceweber.com as it includes the title card "Basketball is What Men Do During Boys Baseball Season" and does not include the A&F logo – none of the films on bruceweber.com have A&F logo.
2. The film Everthing Else in Life Seems Easy after Wrestling (watch it here) features guys in water and is also a similar edit to the second film shown on abercrombie.com, but it also includes some footage which was not in the A&F version. Furthermore, the film features a completely different soundtrack.
3. The film Live, Eat, and Sleep Wrestling (watch it here) is completely different from the third film shown on abercrombie.com, but footage from it was used in the third A&F film. Also, this Bruce Weber cut features monologue of a young wrestler.

So where the hell is the guy-on-guy kiss? Come in, part 4!

The fourth part of this series of films on bruceweber.com is titled Other Sports Require One Ball. Wrestling Requires Two. (Watch it here) ...Homoeroticism gets its game on! Heated, it all plays up in the shower, wet and intense, to the beat of Give It Up Or Turn It Loose by James Brown. The film is really hot, but it is more so a great capture of the beautiful male form in various expressions. Let it be known that an appreciation for the male form can be totally different from actually being attracted to it. Whether you can just appreciate it or are actually attracted to it depends on you and your artistic sensibilities, open-mind, and preferences. Anyway, the highlight of this film comes – no pun intended! – at 1 minute 20 seconds in: bro grabs another bro and plants a passionate kiss on his forehead!

Those other media reporters are calling it a "gay kiss." We will just call this a "guy-on-guy" kiss because to call it "gay" is ignorant. Sam kisses Frodo on the forehead in Peter Jackson's  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King...both of 'em aren't gay! It's a kiss of deep, emotional friendship. We should also know that in respect to Weber's work, male camaraderie place a preeminent role even when it borders homoeroticism. And it's a beautiful thing. Call it whatever you want, interpret it as you wish, but we'll just remain neutral.

All four films are Bruce Weber's work for Abercrombie & Fitch as presented on bruceweber.com. They are Weber's work for A&F, but are not Abercrombie & Fitch marketing films. Rather, they are the photographer's cut of his original work and include footage unused by Abercrombie & Fitch.

The funny thing is that those four Bruce Weber videos have been on his site since February! And people are just now talking about it?! LOL.

It was indeed initially taken to be intentionally gay and to be by A&F. For example, the blog Queerty stated:

"Between the gay dance anthems playing in the store and vintage-porn-looking hunks modeling barely-there clothes in ads, Abercrombie’s marketing strategy has always been super-gay. But though their ads ooze homoerotic pyrotechnics, they’ve never actually gone and shown us the full monty, the real act of affection between two hot dudes. Until now."

Many reporters have not corrected their claims of the kiss being a part of A&F marketing.

Some have. Shophound.com actually called headquarters and was the first to clear that it was not A&F marketing. Honestly, though, that was a given if you actually paid attention to the official A&F Spring 2012 marketing campaign. Poor Shophound seems to be unaware that A&F released its three official films on abercrombie.com and Shophound still doesn't have a clue as to what is on bruceweber.com. Well, its just the photographer's cuts of his own work for A&F. It's as simple as that.

Other industry reporters keep on playing the gay card by stating that, by not including the kiss, Abercrombie & Fitch is not read to come out of its "glass closet." Racked.com furthers this insinuation by saying that, "So for the time being, it looks like A&F will just continue to nod and wink at its customers." But those reporters are just so ignorant. As Mike Jeffries told journalist Benoit Denizet-Lewis, back in 2004, about A&F's image, "...it's not gay, and it's not straight [...] It's all depicting this wonderful camaraderie, friendship, and playfulness that exist in this generation and, candidly, does not exist in the older generation."

Still, though, had A&F included that kiss...it would have been very admirable, bold, and pioneering in its part...

Stay FIERCE!

P.S. The fourth Bruce Weber film was uploaded onto YouTube, but it has since been removed. The film is exclusively available at bruceweber.com (here).

Removal notice of part four from YouTube.

Hollister and Gilly Hicks on Regent Street Opening Mid-Summer!

83-97 Regent Street, as seen on Google Maps, when it was home to the National Geographic store.

April 5 update...

Hollister and Gilly Hicks are opening May 12!!!

Click on this post for more info:

Hollister and Gilly Hicks on Regent Street, London Opening May 12!!!

This is an update on the opening of the Hollister EPIC store and the Gilly Hicks shop on 83-97 Regent Street in London. Initially it was thought that the locations would open in late-March, but that no longer holds true (obviously). The exact opening date is still unclear. Management of HCo in particular anticipate an opening in "mid-summer." This time frame would place the opening of both locations near the initiation of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Sitch on Fitch will continue to keep you updated. For background info on HCo EPIC in London, read (here). For background info on the GH shop, read (here). Check out the Hollister Co. Regent Street official Facebook group (here). There's no Facebook group for GH yet.

Also, if any of you reading this post happen to have a photo of the locations, in their current process of development, from outside on Regent Street, and would like to share the photo(s) on this blog, then please email to anfnewsnow@aol.com. Include either your first name or initials so that you can be credited for your photo(s). Only send photo(s) owned/taken by you. Thanks!

Stay FIERCE!

So Hot! Englishman Chris Evans for Abercrombie & Fitch...

Hey! How's it going?! Have you seen our guy Chris on A&F Casting at abercrombie.com? You must click on the right arrow until you get to his image...

We've been big fans of Chris here on The Sitch on Fitch! We called him the "Abercrombie Boy-Toy" out of cheek for being A&F's main guy at promo events. He made his first appearance at the opening of A&F Milan back in October 2009 and then he went on to be seemingly the leading guy at the openings of A&F Ginza (Tokyo, December 2009) and A&F Copenhagen (November 2010)...always figuring prominently in photos from the events. And he was also among the models which went about London promoting the opening of Gilly Hicks...

At A&F Milan (2009) and at Copenhagen (2010);
and also having fun in London for GH (2010).

You can tell his look – primarily his hair style – underwent considerable change from 2009 to 2010 and 2011...

It wasn't until the hot opening of A&F Paris, back in May 2011, when LeFigaro.fr got his first name "Chris" for the public. Yeah, he looked pretty hot that day...and we're not talking because of the weather that day!

Male perfection with a name...Chris!  |  (image source)

Those who really wanted more of him got served during the A&F Christmas 2011 flagship store openings! Chris came out looking great as ever for A&F Madrid, Düsseldorf, and Brussels!

Chris and crew outside A&F Madrid on Plaza Marques de Salamanca 5  |  (image source)

Lookin' FIERCE outside A&F Düsseldorf on Königsallee 17!  |  (image source)

Outside Boulevard de Waterloo 21 for A&F Brussels!  |  (image source)

A&F Casting gives his full name as "Chris Evans" – a name which he shares with American actor Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Push, Captain America: The First Avenger) who is the face of Gucci Guilty. Who know if "Evans" our A&F guy's real surname, though. Sometimes alternate surnames are given to models on A&F Casting. For example, actor James Preston, who appeared in the A&F Spring-Summer campaign, is shown as "James Flook."

An Englishman, Chris joined the Company working for A&F London on Savile Row. The lucky guy has since been privileged enough to travel all over to world class cities to promote Abercrombie & Fitch to the fans. We admire his work for the Company...we're his biggest fans!

Stay FIERCE

Abercrombie Elliminates Fake Online Store Using the "N-word"...

Counterfeit pants sold on fake online site with controversial labeling.  |  (image source)

This is explosive!

On March 22, word spread across the internet that Abercrombie & Fitch was selling "Nigger Brown" pants! But the whole thing is completely untrue and shocking!

The source of the controversy is a fake online store registered to a man by the name of Patrick Welch with a mailing address in North Carolina and an email address in Hong Kong.^{[source 1]} Operating its counterfeit business with the A&F logo, the Chinese-registered site featured cargo pants with the label "Abercrombie & Fitch mpa11 Nigger Brown Pants men." After the item gained attention, word began spreading like wildfire. Naturally, the reality of the situation got lost somewhere along the way – as it always happens with all scandals – and people just kept saying Abercrombie was selling racist pants with the N-word.

People began posting on the official A&F Facebook page by 4:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time). By the sound of some of the comments, the administrator of the page was initially deleting the posts of people complaining about the scandal by possibly attempting to keep it down while the Company dealt with it. One user commented, "You can take down my post as I figured you would, I have already sent it to my over 600 facebook friends, and asked them to share it with their friends as well." By 5:53 PM (EST) a screenshot of the fake site was uploaded by another A&F fan on Facebook demanding an explanation....Abercrombie & Fitch now responded, "This is NOT our site and is NOT affiliated in any way with our company. We condemn the use of this word in any form."

By 7:05 PM (EST), Abercrombie & Fitch released a statement for everyone to read on its page: "It has come to our attention that counterfeit websites have posted an image that in no way reflects the Abercrombie & Fitch brand values or beliefs. Abercrombie & Fitch has a zero tolerance for discrimination and we do not condone racist language. We have initiated legal proceedings to shut down the counterfeit websites in question."^{[source 2]}

Not only was the Company referring to that one fake site, but of countless other counterfeit business websites which copied the naming of the pants.^{[source 1]} In a world where consumer power is greatly influential and empowered by social media, A&F acted quick to shut down the sites as a demonstration that it will not stand for derogatory language to be associated with its goods. The site which originally started it all has been shut down as of now. Supposedly, the inclusion of "nigger" was an error in translation of "dark brown" in Chinese to English. As the Business Insider shared, a couch with the same description was found online in 2007.^{[source 3]}

This whole scandal has furthermore brought light to the fact that the counterfeit of A&F goods in Asia is a continuous issue that has really got to be dealt with more aggressively. The Company stepped up its efforts to combat counterfeit of its brands back in 2006 when it hired former FBI agent Shane Berry to lead its Abercrombie & Fitch Brand Protection team. Anti-counterfeiting staff was increased in Europe and in Southeast Asia with a more intense pursue of the illegal activities in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea – only Japan has A&F stores, and Singapore has one, too; and the brand will officially enter the Chinese market later this year with a flagship in Hong Kong.

The official websites for the A&F Family brands all carry a link to Brand Protection:

• A&F Brand Protection (here) / abercrombie.com
• abercrombie kids Brand Protection (here) / abercrombiekids.com
• Hollister Co Brand Protection (here) / hollisterco.com
• Gilly Hicks Brand Protection (here) / gillyhicks.com

The official retail stores and the official online stores for the A&F Family are THE source for their authentic goods. Buy an item somewhere else and you run a high-risk of having purchased counterfeit merchandise. As devoted fans of the Company, we understand the value of its brands, the awesome in-store experience, and the cool feeling you get from purchasing from their incredible shops and from their official e-commerce sites. Help shut down the counterfeiting by reporting the illegal businesses to the Company!

Stay FIERCE!

Spotted on the Screen! | Abercrombie & Fitch in 'Switched at Birth'...

It's always awesome to hear from readers of The Sitch on Fitch who keep a good lookout for whenever a moose or seagull may show up on TV shows or movies...

Our reader Esteban shared with us this moment, in the American family drama Switched at Birth, episode 21, "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters," in which one of the characters of the series shows up with an A&F classic shirt under his school cardigan....

Thanks to Esteban for the sharing! Everyone else, keep a sharp lookout!

Stay FIERCE!

Screenshot of the ABC Family television series, Switched at Birth, used here for illustrative purposes only.

Abercrombie Gets Swiped into Lawsuit Over Gift Cards...

...And fate sure loves to bring A&F loads of controversy and lawsuits!
Original photography from 'FIERCE' Christmas 2009 featuring model Nick Bateman.

Christmas 2009 was an interesting season. Themed 'FIERCE', it was marked by the opening of A&F Milan and the first Abercrombie & Fitch in Asia – A&F Ginza in Tokyo. Back in the States, sales had been slipping considerably because of the recession and A&F was loosening up in giving customers promotional incentives to shop at the stores...

It was during the month of December of that year that Abercrombie & Fitch dished out promotional gift cards, carrying a value of US$25, to shoppers who spent US$100 or more. One of those shoppers was Dorothy Stojka who ultimately received 3 cards for a total of US$75 worth. Stojka later gave these cards to her acquaintance Tiffany Boundas. So, months go by and Boundas drops by Abercrombie & Fitch in Oak Brook, Illinois, in April 2010. Up to the cash wrap/tills she goes with her 3 cards only to be told that the cards were voided – that they expired – on 30 January 2010.

What's the problem? The cards themselves are printed with "...no expiration date." As can be imagined, it must have been a little humiliating, but more so infuriating, going up there, expecting your cards to go through, only to be told that they are no longer valued. Boundas and Stojka both proceeded to file a class action lawsuit against Abercrombie in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. They argue that A&F breached contract when the Company voided the cards. A&F then fired back by stating that the cards originally came in a sleeve which stated the January 30 expiration date and that there were customers aware of the date. The cards were meant to be given to customers in that sleeve. The thing is, though, that the cards were nevertheless printed with "no expiration." Also, a store employee could have given the card without the sleeve or customers who did receive the card with sleeve could have passed it on without. As US District Judge Gary Feinerman stated, "[The] only open question [is] whether the cards expired on January 30, 2010, in which case Abercrombie did not breach, or never expired, in which case [A&F did breach]."^{[source 1]}

Thus, the class action suit has gone forward. Stojka was dismissed and Boundas was appointed, by Judge Feinerman, as the class representative as she was the one who was told her cards expired: "The class in this case consists primarily of individuals holding an Abercrombie promotional gift card whose value was voided on or around January 30, 2010. That criterion is as objective as they come. The class also includes individuals who threw away their cards because they were told that the balances had been voided. That criterion is not as objective as actually holding a physical card, but anybody claiming class membership on that basis will be required to submit an appropriate affidavit," furthered Judge Feinerman.^{[source 1]}

Subsidiary issues and defenses:^{[source 2]}

1. "Whether Abercrombie was contractually obligated to honor the promotional gift cards..."
2. "If so, whether the contract’s terms are set forth on the gift card alone, the sleeve alone, or the card plus the sleeve; and..."
3. "If the terms are set forth on the card plus the sleeve, whether the card trumps the sleeve or vice versa."

Interesting stuff, wouldn't you say? And you know, that the cards would have been set to expire on January 30 makes complete sense. That would have been by the time that the Christmas 2009 season ended. The cards were likely intended to have been used only until the end of that season. It was a promotional offer for Christmas 2009, after all. Apparently, that wasn't obvious to all and, as a result, now there is legal argument over the matter.


Only gift cards purchased by customers are the ones that do not have an expiration date. Cards given out for merchandise credit, when a customer returns merchandise without a receipt, expire one year after they are issued. Cards given as promotional offers are subject to a set period of time for when the offer will be valued and for when it will expire.

You should always check online the A&F brands' sites for details on all ongoing promotional offers as the details are always made available for you there.

Stay FIERCE!

Spotted on the Screen! | Abercrombie & Fitch in Gossip Girl...

Our fellow reader M.R.D. pointed out that Abercrombie & Fitch has had its run-ins with the scandalous Upper East Siders of Manhattan's elite in the American TV drama, Gossip Girl. Surely you know of Gossip Girl?! Sex, drinking, scheming, and bringing someone down...it's all in a days worth! And who can resist the hot cast? Sounds like the perfect mix for A&F!

To be precise, A&F has been relevant in the first three seasons of the show...

Season One

 ~ Gossip Girl: season one, episode four, "Bad News Blair"

During a nightmare of Blair Waldorf's, she rides in a taxi cab down Fifth Avenue and to the store front of Henri Bendel. It's a nightmare for her because she sees her faithful followers attending preferably to Serena van der Woodsen instead of her.

Anyway, before Blair gets to Henri Bendel, her cab passes by the Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store on Fifth Ave...

Season Two

~ Gossip Girl, season two, episode four, "The Ex-Files"

In a plot to break up Dan Humphrey and Serena van der Wooden, Blair's sidekicks Kati and Isabel step in to cause further jealousy between Dan and Serena. It is at a bar where the girls introduce Serena to a guy named Jenns, captain of the Dalton school lacrosse team.

Jenns is played by Tyler Johnson who modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch. Although his photography was not used in marketing campaigns, one of his shots was used for the A&F Casting feature on abercrombie.com...

When Jenns meets up with Serena over drinks, he naturally wears an A&F classic shirt...

 

 

Here's when they go hang out and talk with Dan and his date. Jenns talks of his swift moves on the field before Dan mocks Jenns' cocky recount of his game. Serena is not really into Jenns, and you can tell she's not captivated by his athletic tales, but feigns interest - she is merely using Jenns to piss Dan off. Enjoying Dan's annoyance, Serena informs Jenns that "Dan's not a big sports guy." Jenns, states, "I can see that." Both laugh and then Serena furthers snidely, "Yeah, he likes poets. And letters to poets."

 

 

Serena then excuses herself for another trip to the bar. Jenns stares at Serena walk away and tells Dan, "Smokin' hot," referring to her. Dan merely gets up and walks off leaving Jenns alone at the table. No one returns...

Season Three

~ Gossip Girl, season three, episode one, "Reversals of Fortune"

In this instance, A&F doesn't make an appearance, but it is mentioned and very explosively.

Model Ashley Hinshaw makes a cameo at the beginning of season three as she walks up to Chuck Bass and begins flirting with him...

 

 

She then makes advances on Chuck before being caught by Blair (who is Chuck's girlfriend). Blair informs Ashley, "You may have an Abercrombie campaign [...] but that doesn't give you the right to try to steal someone else's man! Now take your American girl hair and your poreless skin and get OUT!" Ashley replies, "Okay. You're crazy..." and strolls off.

 

In actuality, Ashley Hinshaw modeled for Hollister for the Spring-Summer 2007 marketing campaign. Blair says it's an "Abercrombie campaign" because it was a marketing campaign by Abercrombie & Fitch Co for its Hollister brand, of course.

 

 And...

Also of note, Penn Bagdley, who plays Dan, modeled for Abercrombie in the early-2000s. Badgley only appeared in one of the three A&F Magazine (2004-2005) issues and was not used for any marketing campaigns.

 

Badgley as Dan in season two, episode one, "Summer Kind of Wonderful"

Yeah, Abercrombie's definitely been here and there on the Upper East Side! You can watch Gossip Girl Monday nights at 8:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) on The CW in America; on ITV2 at 8:00 Monday nights in the UK; and at 21:00 on SIXX in Germany.

Stay FIERCE!

UPDATE: Gossip Girl aired its series finale on December 17, 2012, after six seasons. Get the DVDs or stream online (depending on availability in your international region)!

'Bout Love! Abercrombie & Fitch Spring 2012 Films - Part 3...

Classic Abercrombie guy bonding!

For the love of exercise or for the love of guys, or both! ...You have your pick!

FIERCE passion and adrenaline run through in Bruce Weber's third installment of films for A&F Spring 2012! This short film is the ultimate embrace of what's at the core of Abercrombie & Fitch: a romanticism for male athleticism, male comradeship, and the male form...man, oh man, oh man. And, people, it is so intense that sweat shorts will drop! All you gotta do is "make it 'bout love"...

It all goes down playing to the melody of Make It 'Bout Love (Georgie's Anthemic Original Radio) by Hold on to Peace - a song from the Christmas 2011 A&F playlist.

Check out highlights from the awesome video below...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well produced, high-quality workmanship from the master Bruce Weber for Abercrombie & Fitch... It's a classic!

If you haven't seen this film, or any of the other two, then you must head on over to 'Experience A&F' at abercrombie.com. Hasn't this Spring season been a splash?!

Stay FIERCE!