LAUNCHED IN 2010, THE SITCH ON FITCH BECAME THE INSPIRED, RESPECTED BRAND OF PASSION OVER THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND PRESTIGE OF ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO. (ADMIRATION FOR ITS PAST GOING BACK TO 1892 AND FOR THE MODERN-TIME HEIGHTS OF THE MIKE JEFFRIES ERA); IT WAS OFFICIALLY, POSITIVELY RECOGNIZED BY A&F HOME OFFICE BY APRIL 2012, WITH A DIRECT EMAIL TO THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, DURING ITS GROWTH AS THE ONE-OF-A-KIND, MULTINATIONAL ONLINE PUBLICATION, WITH HIGH-GRADE PRESENTATION WHICH EVOLVED OVER ITS RUN, FOR RELEVANT, UNIQUE, IN-DEPTH BUSINESS, CULTURE, AND STYLE CONTENT FOR THE COMMUNITY OF CUSTOMERS AND ASSOCIATES WORLDWIDE (MONTHLY PAGEVIEWS SURPASSED 110K BY AUGUST 2012); AND IT WAS FOLDED BY SEPTEMBER 2015 AFTER THE DECEMBER 2014 RETIREMENT OF MIKE JEFFRIES AND THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF'S DISTASTE WITH THE FURTHER DEGRADATION OF THE COMPANY BY ITS NEW MANAGEMENT. WITH CONTENT BY THE PERSPECTIVE OF DEVOTED CUSTOMERS AND ASSOCIATES FROM AMERICA, EUROPE AND FAR EAST ASIA, THE SITCH ON FITCH (2010-2015) REMAINS AS A HISTORICAL, ZEITGEIST ONLINE PUBLICATION OVER THE FINAL YEARS OF THE MIKE JEFFRIES ERA. THIS SITE WILL BE REVAMPED SOON TO OFFICIATE AN INTELLIGENT ARCHIVE FOR THE USE OF ALL PARTIES INTERESTED IN THE CONTENT PUBLISHED DURING THE PUBLICATION'S ORIGINAL RUN.

Monday, November 25, 2013

News Now! | Abercrombie & Fitch Paris Fire on Champs-Élysées...

The Paris Brigade in action amid disaster at A&F Paris.
Images by the BSPP used for illustrative purposes only.
         FEU DANS LA Ville-Lumière! In a most unfortunate strike of freak occurrences, on Sunday, November 24, the interior of the Abercrombie & Fitch Paris flagship store became a storm of hellish fury. The Brigade de Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris – a French Army unit reserved exclusively for the city's fire service – responded immediately at around 6:45AM (CET; UTC +1) and made haste in dying out the flames and attempting to air out the premises. It was on a section of the sales floor on the second level where the fire took hold; and although safety mechanisms helped contain it at about 1,076 sqft (100 sqm) of fire damage, the heavy black smoke caused more extensive problems as it permeated throughout the entire place and reduced visibility to less than 8 inches only after the fire had died. Ultimately, 72 firefighters and 22 engines were on location after more than 2 hours in response on the famed Avenue de Champs-Élysées...

Since its memorable opening back in May 2011 (who can forget the world's first and globally-buzzed week of the 101 A&F hottest guys! See here and here), Abercrombie's Parisian location had purveyed the brand's globally iconic clothing, accessories, and fragrance to thousands upon thousands of visitors entranced by the wholly unique and unparalleled shopping experience. The four-level sales space interior was a majestic display of No.23 Champs-Élysées' special grandeur in synthesis with elements of the exceptional all-American heritage of Abercrombie & Fitch. Largely regarded by the brand's visiting fans as arguably the best A&F Flagship in Europe, the once-pristine A&F Paris will now have to be gutted and undergo full internal restoration: "It has to be totally refitted. Everything has to be thrown out," stated French Lieutenant colonel Frédéric Grosjean.

_____________________




The original A&F Paris as seen in some pics from our TSOF photo archives.
Photos by Mark Verheyen, 2012.
_____________________


This ill-fated circumstance comes at an even more terribly inopportune moment for Abercrombie & Fitch Co. at a time when Company sales figures have been trending negative. The significant damage and to-be-extensive temporary closing of the international, heavy-traffic A&F Paris store is a major hit to the Company's capital and its short-term overseas sales. After the disaster, there are also now sizable losses procured in original on-site investment and merchandise. And adding insult to injury, the fact that this went down incidentally on the eve of the generally heavy Holidays shopping consumer activity on one of the world's busiest streets.




A&F Paris is the second Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store to ever have been subject to fire damage. However, the degree of destruction in Paris is beyond anything that happened back in 2011 when A&F Fifth Avenue broke out in contained fire on the fifth level (office space) and sparing the sales floors below without any dramatic damage. While A&F Fifth Avenue was able to operate again after barely even 2 weeks closed, the work to restore the Paris location will be extensive, the Company should move quickly in tackling the sudden project, and a fully-fledged reopening of A&F Paris will have to occur sometime soon after the following weeks of laborious work to get done...

We can only express our deepest regret for this to have happened to the great A&F Paris team. But with a strong, resilient crew, you can bet that No.23 will be #ABERCROMBIEHOTer than ever in no time!

Stay FIERCE!




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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Stores Allure! | Abercrombie & Fitch Glasgow, Scotland...

WRITTEN BY CAMERON, TSOF CONTRIBUTOR

What could have been Scotland's first
Abercrombie & Fitch, now an Apple Store...
         HEY GUYS, HOW is everyone?

As you all know, A&F's sales are down again this quarter. I believe that one of the problems here in the United Kingdom is partly to do with the exclusivity of the brand. They really don't have enough A&F stores in the UK! I don't know what they were thinking when they opened the A&F outlet in Ashford, Kent. Surely they should have opened a fully-fledged store further from their beautiful flagship store in London?

Why should I think this just now? Jack Wills, the university outfitter founded in Salcombe, England, is on the rise. Increasing numbers of people at my school, in particular, are starting to turn to JW. And as much as I hate the brand, I can see why: people are fed up with the exclusivity of A&F. The hassle of having to order online and pay shipping fees, the fact that people don't know which size is best for them and having to pay for returns are all down points in Scotland for Abercrombie & Fitch. The nearest Jack Wills store is one and a half hours away...where as the nearest Abercrombie store is six hours away in London! Can you imagine travelling six hours for some clothes?! To actually feel the textures and design and have the ability to try on and appreciate in real form... Also, the prices for the A&F brand over here, in the UK, are often about roughly double the price that US customers pay; I've actually compared prices for all four A&F brands in a previous post (here).

It's not like Abercrombie & Fitch hasn't been trying to find a store in Scotland. They did try to buy an absolutely stunning building in the centre of Glasgow – 147 Buchanan Street – but unfortunately the Company was outbid by Apple – the location has been made amazingly by adding a cool new Apple sign and a spiral glass staircase. Buchanan Street has recently been granted second place in the UK's busiest shopping street, with over 1 mile of shops, hence why it is nicknamed 'The Style Mile'. Many internationally renowned brands and designers are situated on this strip of amazing shopping including Gucci, Hermes, and Prada (inside Frasers) and Nike, Zara, and Scotland's only Forever 21. At the top of Buchanan Street, there is Buchanan Galleries which has quite an atmosphere with tenants such as our own Hollister Co. and also LEGO and Fred Perry...



147 Buchanan Street


After A&F battled for the to-then-be Apple Store, they bid for 98 Buchanan Street – a former Borders bookstore. This building looks amazing at night and maybe even better than the Apple Store! 98 Buchanan Street is such a charm; it is actually detached all around the facade, so its presence is literally outstanding by itself on the UK's second busiest shopping street. The building is actually just down slightly from the Apple Store. But again, Abercrombie was outbid and this time by All Saints. In my opinion, All Saints has made such a mess of what was a beautiful building! As you can see in the pictures below, 98 Buchanan street was a beautiful building (even as a Borders location) and how it would have looked like with wonderful illumination....it would have made for another amazing Abercrombie & Fitch international store...









What do you think? Does Abercrombie & Fitch need to expand more logically in the UK? What do you think of the two buildings above? Be sure to drop a comment and voice your opinion...

Stay FIERCE!
~Cameron



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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

All About Style! | Abercrombie Christmas 2013: An Alternative Classic...

WRITTEN BY DOM, TSOF CONTRIBUTOR


         HI GUYS! HOPE you are all doing well.

As you may know by now, I'm not exactly a fan of the current direction the "look" of A&F is taking. The whole 90's grunge trend, in my opinion, just doesn't work for the brand...it's like trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. The current crop of A&F looks is absolutely some of the worst ever: I seriously question the ability of whoever comes up with them.

However, most appreciatively, the actual merchandise itself this season is some of the best we've seen in a long time! There's a solid selection of outerwear, fleece and sweaters, as well as a fantastic selection of classic and plaid shirts. For the first time in many years, we also have velvet lined tees back – how retro is that? Let's hope the velvet polos return, too (come on A&F)! ...Slowly but surely, we're getting there (A&F-wise, at least).

With that in mind, allow me to suggest to you a few ideas for outfits which evoke the spirit of the A&F of old – classic, American and timeless. More importantly, whilst the destroyed skinny jeans look cool, not all of us can actually squeeze into them – me included! Therefore, I thought it was about time someone showed the classic boot and straight styles some love. Enjoy the cold weather as much as you can!



Click images to view larger!
Only currently instock items listed.




Morgan Mountain shirt, navy plaid, US$68
Connery Pond tee, heather gray, US$30
A&F Slim Straight Chinos, dark khaki, US$78
Rugged Heritage flip-flops, brown, US$44








Green Mountain hoodie, dark heather gray, US$100
Rocky Falls shirt, blue stripe, US$68
Hunters Pass v-neck tee, navy, US$24
A&F Boot Jeans, destroyed medium wash, US$88
Rugged Heritage flip-flops, brown, US$44












Green Mountain hoodie, navy, US$100
Henderson Lake shirt, red plaid, US$68
Northside Trail crew waffle tee, gray stripe, US$48
A&F Slim Straight Jeans, rinse, US$78
Rugged Heritage flip-flops, brown, US$44




Baldface Mountain, red, US$120
Baxter Mountain henley, dark heather gray, US$78
Allen Brook shirt, red plaid US$68
A&F Boot Jeans, destroyed medium wash, US$88
Rugged Heritage flip-flops, brown, US$44














Outfit cards created by Dom for The Sitch on Fitch.
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Guest Voices! | A Passion for RUEHL from Germany...



PRESENTER
DANIEL

FROM
GERMANY

REGARDING
A RUEHL COOL ENCOUNTER



My R925 Carrington Jacket as featured at The Trubble Village Bar, (here)!
         HEY, THERE. MY name's Daniel and I'm a 17 year-old guy living in Rostock – a pretty boring Hanseatic town in the north of Germany. I have to say that I never really cared for upscale brands and that the first time I heard about Abercrombie was actually just a few months ago when there was this A&F scandal in the media (A&F won't stock sizes larger then "L" for women, etc.). But whatever...

In July, I was in Dresden which is a really, really great town...and there was a Hollister Co. shop. In Rostock, we neither have a Hollister or an Abercrombie (of course) and so I was kind of attracted when I saw the beach shack in the mall. I went in and I just thought, "What the hell is this? Is this a store? ...Can I buy in here?" After a while I thought it was really cool because this store was a totally new experience for me. I bought two shirts; and when I came back from Dresden, I checked out the Hollister website. Furthermore, in my research about the brand, I came across the Wikipedia article for Hollister and I read the name "RUEHL No.925"...I afterwards finally ended up at The Sitch on Fitch (its Editor-in-Chief having had maintained the A&F-related Wikipedia pages in the late-2000s before leaving to start TSOF) and The Trubble Village Bar.

You know I never cared for the A&F brand, and only after my experience in Dresden did I noticed that everyone in my age and over it was wearing Hollister and A&F. I was a little bit sad about that because when you buy something pricey you want to stand out from the crowd. But then the name RUEHL stood out to me once again and I had read that the brand was never launched outside the USA and closed in 2010. I searched carefully on eBay and on another German website which was pretty similar and I found a few authentic RUEHL clothes...I felt totally in love with them. I first got a yellow Shirt for 20 euros; and a few days after it, I found the RUEHL Carrington Jacket for just 59€. (See my featured clothing here at Bar).

I love RUEHL so much. The flair. The feeling of wearing something that no one has. Hollister is for my classmates, RUEHL is for me. It's the most stylish grown-up clothing brand I know. I adore how the idea of RUEHL transports you to a unique fantasy of a lifestyle in Greenwich Village, New York City... I really hope that I can get more RUEHL clothes soon.

Although I do not belong to the original target age group of 22 through 35, I highly enjoy wearing R925. I also love the stylish, cool photography by Bruce Weber for RUEHL and the pseudo-history of the German immigrants and the store music. I'm kind of a RUEHL-geek now if you can say so.

It's definitely my new favorite clothing brand and it's so sad I never got the chance to visit one of the shops when the business was still in operation. I guess it was awesome to enter a store which was designed as a New York brownstone house. I mean, that's where I want to be anyway...in NYC.

Daniel

The Trubble Village Bar, as a division of The Sitch on Fitch, continues the iconic legacy of the RUEHL dream. Visit the Bar now! (VISIT)


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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Featured Goods of the Week! | November 19-25...


GET PREPPED for #CatchingFire on the field with the hottest active essentials! ...Check out this week's Featured Goods!






ABERCROMBIE
& FITCH
M E N S

A&F ACTIVE BASELAYER
DARK GRAY
US$38

D I S C O V E R





ABERCROMBIE
& FITCH
W O M E N S

A&F ACTIVE SHORT
WHITE
US$34

D I S C O V E R





abercrombie
g u y s

a&f active half-zip hoodie
navy
US$59.95

d i s c o v e r





abercrombie
g i r l s

pop color backpack
pink
US$49.95

d i s c o v e r





HOLLISTER Co.
D U D E S

HOLLISTER SPORT PANTS
NAVY AND GREEN
US$49.95

D I S C O V E R





HOLLISTER Co.
B E T T Y S

HOLLISTER SPORT BRA
DARK GRAY
US$24.95

D I S C O V E R





GILLY HICKS
G I R L S

GH SPORT GRAPHIC TANK
NAVY
US$19.95

D I S C O V E R





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Friday, November 15, 2013

All About Style! | Abercrombie and Hollister Christmas 2013 looks...

WRITTEN BY MARCUS, TSOF CONTRIBUTOR

Bonjour, readers! First off, I apologize for periodic absences from posting. I hope that my holiday outfits can make up for it!

You know, I love the Christmas season when it comes to Abercrombie & Fitch - the styles, instore music, and marketing all combine to create an explosive fashion season. But style-wise this season, A&F has been pushing retro 90's grunge looks. I had a bit of trouble emulating that look, but I have at least tried. Anyway, my outfits are probably a bit more classic A&F and Hollister but with updated twists...






Start off Look 1 (left) with the perfect rinse skinny jeans, put on a long sleeve tee with ultimate comfort, and layer on a timeless flannel shirt. My shoes of preference for this look are upper boat shoes from Polo Ralph Lauren, by the way. This all creates a rugged look with modern preppy attitude! Yeah, perfect for Black Friday...

As for Look 2, here's an awesome outfit that's great for Hollister fans! Simple, yet classic and #SoChill. Gear up in destroyed light wash skinny jeans and pair it up with a supersoft pop color sweatshirt. Then, throw on a twill jacket and slip into some incredible red Converse shoes to complete it effortlessly...
Bonfire, anyone?

Well, I hope you enjoyed my two select holiday looks. I was really racking my brain on a good Hollister outfit, but I think that one worked. Any questions, comments, etc.? Leave it below, of course!

Later, y'all!
Marcus






#AWESOME READER, LEAVE A COMMENT!...
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Thursday, November 14, 2013

S.M. Highlights! | Abercrombie & Fitch Seoul Cool...

For this 2013 year, we experienced the opening of only one Abercrombie & Fitch retail gem – A&F Seoul! Housed inside the meticulously Aber-redesigned structure at 118-7 Cheongdam-dong, this beautiful new international shop purveys to Korea #ABERCROMBIEHOT iconic cool! And with affluent neighbors such as Louis Vuitton and Omega, A&F Seoul can't help but to flaunt its renowned privilege in this swanky Gangnam-gu district...

Recently, The Sitch on Fitch caught up with very cool Abercrombie & Fitch aficionado (and fellow TSOF reader!), @fameiansky. Residing in Seoul for his university studies, he was very much among the awesome fans excited for the opening. Check out his #InstaHot pics we just love...



Of #THEHOTTESTBLOG's cool header during promoting week!


Looking great alongside the A&F Seoul storegreeter!


What an awesome shot of the elegant, Aber-redesigned facade!


#rugged #icon #accessories #moose!


And how awesome is this.
His pic has made it onto the #TRENDING page under
the 'Gifts' section of abercrombie.com!


@fameiansky, center, with another TSOF contributor, @bradeyg, featured above.





A big thanks to our pal, @fameiansky (follow!), for sharing and for being among the many great and appreciated readers of #THEHOTTESTBLOG around the world!

Stay FIERCE!






#AWESOME READER, LEAVE A COMMENT!...
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

All About Style! | Cara Delevingne London Street Style, Camo Grunge...

Who isn't in love with English model Cara Delevingne, right! She's this early decade's young, hot thing rocketing to supermodel stardom! Apart from evermore gracing coveted runways and ad campaigns (and her 2012 silver screen debut in Anna Karenina alongside Keira Knightley!), Cara is furthermore under the eye and flash of pop culture which is so in love with her looks, personality, and style...the girl's even been subjected to (untrue) tabloid craze of been romantically involved with OneDirection's Harry Styles...

Recently, the gorgeous doll was spotted sporting camo-grunge chic while strutting about in London. And as Teen Vogue has pointed out, Cara's not alone in camo-cool love – Rihanna, Hanne Gabby Odiele, and Sidney Geubelle, just to name a few, are among the "convoy of fashionistas [pulling] rank with a major dose of camouflage." But we at The Sitch on Fitch just love Cara and defs couldn't fail to notice how she totally just falls inline with this Christmas 2013's '90s grunge theme at our Abertastic fam!

Check out how #THEHOTTESTBLOG shows you how work it like Cara though totes #ABERCROMBIEHOT...






#ABERCROMBIEHOT





Abergirl, start off by slipping into your fitted Abercrombie & Fitch Pamela skirt and Randi shirt. Layer it up beautifully with the Sarah denim shirt and Brittany jacket before placing on a Pretty Shine necklace and topping off with a cozy Knitwear hat. Finally, wrap around your hips the Shannon flannel shirt for a finishing neo-grunge, casual flair!

...Stay FIERCE!
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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

All About Style! | Winter 2013 Menswear Green Trend...

'90s grunge, what? This season in fashion, the exceptional style statement for the fellas channels rugged evergreen cool with a punch! Guy, break the mold! Standout in the crowd (like an ultimate style champ)! And be the ultimate winter-rebel #WARRIOR!

Only the #THEHOTTESTBLOG shows you how to effortlessly pull-off the menswear's hit trend of the moment...



#ABERCROMBIEHOT





#INHOLLISTER





Offerings at Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister Co. run with the so-cool flow. Provided at our favorite brands (instore and online) are a diversity of styles, in play with a greens, for you to furthermore experiment and make your own badass looks!

Leave 'em green with envy, pal...

Stay FIERCE!

Written content and looks montage images © The Sitch on Fitch.  Fashion research and graphics editing by C.E.R.
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