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.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

News Now! | Abercrombie Fifth Avenue & Dublin, Top-Tier Windows Unblocked, Exposed...

Detail of a photo from A&F Dublin on opening day, 1 November 2012.
Note the detail of system behind windows.   |   Image, Patrick M. for The Sitch on Fitch
         A SIGNATURE, KEY element introduced with the the rollout of the Abercrombie & Fitch flagship prototype (beginning with A&F Fifth Avenue in 2005), and then implemented onto the mall-based formats by 2007, the distinct, elegantly conceived obstruction implemented on the windows of Abercrombie & Fitch stores were meant to heighten seclusion, privacy and intimacy instore, for the consumer, with the A&F Experience playing out as if in a glorious world of its own in containment from the outside world. However, with the volatile environment of post-Recession fashion retail, the removal of all obstructions at the windows began in 2013 with the intent of exposing the interior to now instead try to make an intrigue-effect on the passerby now able to have a peak inside and check out some sort of windows displays. While the removal of the louvers over Abercrombie & Fitch facades was very much evident from the get-go has it took hold nationwide America, the removal of all original, signature elements secluding the interiors of flagships and, in the case of A&F Dublin, non-flagship top-tiers is well set...

After a visit to A&F Dublin, TSOF Correspondent Patrick shared that the initiative had now reached this particular location as well - which became the first non-flagship, non-mall-based top-tier Abercrombie & Fitch internationally back when it opened on November 1, 2012. He furthermore candidly admitted, "Feels odd having natural light inside the Dublin store."








Top two images, windows unblocked at A&F Dublin
exposing the once secluded, private, intimate interior for the A&F Experience
and letting in natural light and views of outside (and vice versa). Bottom, another
detail of a photo from opening day. Images, Patrick M. for The Sitch on Fitch



It does even just look odd, period, for any flagship/top-tier...almost uncomfortable and uncanny, the exposure, from inside furthermore. At least mall-based stores are mall-based stores naturally adjustable in that environment to that typical windows-displays technique (having the louvers being removed was something to adjust to personally), but A&F Flagships and top-tiers? It's just uncanny but can be worked out, one can suppose.

This only follows what has already been for the iconic A&F Fifth Avenue flagship store in Manhattan, New York.






Top, louvers system behind windows at A&F Fifth Avenue gone;
Image, Kira D., regramed by @abercrombie on Instagram, April 3, 2015.
Bottom, louvers system with illumination at A&F Fifth Avenue; Image,
photographer Charles Marion for The Sitch on Fitch, summer 2013.



Apart from offering said intimacy and privacy as shopper, and as such being in full play of the epic, private A&F Experience instore to relish and lose yourself in, the windows obstruction element furthermore provided a striking, signature exterior design detail and most specially with the incorporated illumination (most beautifully at night).

A new, inclusive era indeed....

Stay FIERCE!
LABELS , , , , , , ,