Letter from the Editor! | Samantha Elauf, Abercrombie & Fitch Historic Supreme Court Ruling...

Samantha and her mom in front of the Supreme Court, February 25, 2015.   |   (image source)

         NEARLY EXACTLY SEVEN years after Samantha Elauf, a practicing Muslim young woman, was denied employment at her local abercrombie kids over the lifestyle usage of her hijab, the Supreme Court of the United States of America has made a landmark, historic ruling over case EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., that heralds a new step in progress in the dynamics of American society and will now stand, for Abercrombie & Fitch Co., as the resounding epic closure to paramount controversy and lawsuits, on the basis of discrimination, which has been plaguing the Company for years, in the modern era, until this newfound epoch for the future...

FIERCE Perspective! | Abercrombie Topless Male Models No More?...

A classical, refined era is passing away. What a world out there now...
Image, Nick Ray, The Times, 2007   |   (image source)

         NOW A WEEK after the new senior management of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., post-Mike Jeffries, made it official - really, we all already knew it was happening - that there will be no more iconic, clean, aspirational sexuality and shirtless male models (and scantly-clad girls) in the marketing and instores (and now that we've definitely had a good time to cool down from detriment of it all including the severe loosening of associates standards), a now-having-left male A&F Store Model - shhh, we're not supposed to use that anymore either [eyeroll, grimace] - gets candid on some key aspects on why the admirable sales floor positions truly mattered and what it means for those who once held the highest stance...

News Now! | Abercrombie & Fitch, World Vision Philanthropy...

Let's warm up hearts with joy and love!   |   Image, @af_faneuilhall

         THE GREATEST GIFT is the gift from the heart! By the end of this calendar year, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. will have donated more US$3 million dollars worth of clothing in support of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization which is "dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice." Through the organization's Gifts in Kind program, Abercrombie & Fitch continues steadfast, on an international scale, in being part of efforts in alleviating the lives of people in need for a full positive impact and effect on the greater world.

Letter from the Editor! | Mike Jeffries Retires, the End of an Era...

Mike, the man.   |   Image, Abercrombie & Fitch

         ONE OF THE greatest memories I will ever hold is that of a father and son one night out at the mall. This was in the fall of 2005 – late-October, or perhaps early November – and I was at the threshold of a personal period which would flourish to strongly transform my entire sense of being, dreaming, and believing. Having turned 14 that summer, a high school freshman I had become, and unbeknownst to be were the profound elements to come into my life of magnitude so great that reworked foundations would manifest with spirited, pioneering zest onto which build upon into adulthood. As we walked on, it coming into sight and passing alongside, my father looked to the left and nodded towards, "Soon, I'll take you there to shop your clothes." A great, elongated white facade, furthermore wrapping around the corner, featured wide clear-glass windows behind which reclined darkly-toned, seductive, sophisticated grayscale photography of young adult men and women and from which entrance, featuring the lead image of Matt Ratliff, pulsed bass-strong music with hints of fragrance – only a passerby's transient glimpse gave insight to an obscured dimly-lit interior which furthermore registered the notion of something so elevated, provocative, exclusive, and bold hitherto yet unexperienced for someone so young. Upon that moment's glance by those 14 year-old's eyes, I had no idea how profoundly Abercrombie & Fitch would become one of those molding elements in my life – let alone be composing this Letter in the future on this very blog as it stands. This was Mike Jeffries' Abercrombie & Fitch.

News Now! | Abercrombie & Fitch, 2015 Corporate Equality Index...

         FOR THE 9TH consecutive year, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has proudly garnered a 100-mark score on the Human Rights Campaign's annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI) report – the 13th edition in the American LGBT advocacy group's history since its index's inception.

News Now! | Abercrombie Bullying Prevention 2014 Initiatives...

Together, we are one!   |   Image, @abercrombie IG, Oct. 1

         IN HONOR OF National Bullying Prevention Month (October) and its commitment to the cause, Abercrombie & Fitch has launched its second annual initiatives campaign – "Are You An Ally?" – in follow-up to the premier efforts begun in 2013. For this year, the Company has collaborated with actor and singer Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars), 25, with whom it had earlier begun partnering with for marketing programs for the Hollister brand. With the coming of NBPM, Lucy was only fitting for further involvement within the Company as lead spokesperson for this great particular cause: its aim being, through freshly creative and impacting ways, in educating the population, primarily youths and in school, on the dire, damaging negative effects of bullying at large across communities and on the prevention of it.

Dr. Joel Harber (PsychologyToday profile), with over 20 years of experience after graduating from the University of Georgia, is an internationally-renowned figure in psychology, based in White Plains, New York, who's partaken in nationwide direct discussions on the matter, has authored two books and numerous published articles, and is in charge of overseeing the initiatives at Abercrombie & Fitch.

Leading the 2014 campaign is a candid video featuring Lucy and other authentic individuals with testimonials, perspectives, and resolve on bullying; it is being shared across the country in 10,000 middle schools and high schools along with a devised peer-to-peer curriculum...




Furthermore, in continuum from last year of engagement via its retail infrastructure, a set of two men's tees and two women's tanks have been made available for purchase instores and online abercrombie.com. The first amount of US$150,000 accumulated from the purchases of the US$20 graphic tops will be donate to the non-profit organization, No Bully, with which A&F collaborated with back in 2013. The remainder of the proceeds will go to other anti-bullying groups. Instores, with the "Round-Up" option, customers can round their total purchase price to the nearest dollar to accumulate even more for the cause...

T H E   G O O D S

Men's A&F Bullying Prevention Tee in white, heather gray

Women's A&F Bully Prevention Muscle Tank in black, white

All US$20, instores and abercrombie.com

Through its scholarship partner, the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS; info and application), Abercrombie & Fitch will also provide backing for honoring individual young guys and girls who've excelled academically against being subjects of bullying and for those who have made a recognized stance against bullying. Applicable for students beginning higher education in the fall 2015 semester, ten scholarships under this program will be awarded with a value of US$2,500 – an increase to which prior year recipients will also be eligible for.

"We are proud to champion this cause for the second year in a row, and look forward to seeing the Are you An Ally? program make a difference in schools and communities. It is estimated that 160,000 students miss school every day due to fear of bullying, so we hope this program can help to bring awareness and to address this significant problem." – Michael "Mike" S. Jeffries, A&F CEO

If you see someone – anyone, doesn't matter who they are, how different from you (i.e. ethnicity, gender, orientation, body type, disability, etc.) – being bullied in any way or form (i.e. physically, verbally, whatever) wherever it may be, you need to STEP UP, intervene, and do your part positively to make an impact for the better. Each one of us are a unit, a building block, in this greater world. Think of yourself as a node in this vast interconnected infrastructure, and each has a radiating influence on the greater system depending on its (the node's, you) state of being. Be positive, be open, be curious and intelligent. Use your reason, and be kind to people around you; and don't just stop there, but be kind, aware and considerate of everyone and everything and their condition – really, the greater environment, you, me, him, her, all folks; life out there, sentient animals whether out on your backyard, in captivity, those who go into your sandwich; the planet, really. It's such an obvious thing, but people can be so ignorant of it: It's all in you the way you impact this world and all in it. Ensuring a strong, positive mindset within yourself and your peers, it's a beautiful thing, and you'll enjoy the fulfillment of a world reflected by it.

Stay FIERCE!

Follow @TheSitchonFitch

Music PROFILED! | Abercrombie's Musicmeister, Ted Keyes...

Ted energizin' crowds at A&F Challenge 2013, September 9, 2013
Image, @abercrombie on Instagram

         TED IS LIFE! Enthralling worldwide fans of the iconic Abercrombie & Fitch retail theater with its sick beats, the musicmeister is the mastermind behind the coalescence that makes up the revered playlists, soundtracks to the fantasies at play. His creations fill and feel the heart and soul – literally when blasting it up! – and transport, in euphoric soundwave ecstasy, to the emotional cool of the lifestyles' dream. Commander of beats, our guy is that special golden key to the ultimate party-up!

The man with the hookup, Ted took on the role of music supervision for the Company back in May 2008 and has been responsible in overseeing all operating aspects of the music facet of the business. This has entailed global digital delivery and strategy, promotions, strategic licensing, talent and label relations, sequencing, and mixing and mastering as detailed in his 2013 Brand Innovators profile. And, oh, the iconic playlists in our community he's overseen since. Who could furthermore forget the absolutely jubilant Christmas playlists of 2010 and 2011 and, signature of the holiday season at A&F in particular since his start, the loved "Rosie Christmas" by Donna Summer: "It's really hard to find great, great Christmas music that fits our style unless we find something really amazing that we think is iconic," he told to The Columbus Dispatch (which discussed the use of holiday tracks and rather more early for the season in retail). The most profitable time of the year for A&F, the holidays got a track-sleighride that gained high fun in the start-years of the 2010s before a sudden halt for Christmas 2012 – a markedly new feel of music for Abercrombie & Fitch was introduced that season that incorporated heavy use of house music elements – which many found very "Ruehl" – for the first time. Since then, the A&F Playlist (and those of the rest of the family) has been subject to a higher degree of scrutiny and intrigue with every succeeding release, in the community, for a very distinct evolution, from the precedent established structure, though in progressive continuum of codes essential to the brand (i.e. energy, sensuality, etc.) and, too, maintaining ties with featured artists with a long trackrecord with A&F and establishing new ones. What is to be highly appreciated from this evolution, now into the mid-2010s, is the admirable modernity which Ted has brought forth, in his pursuit of keeping the playlists in step and of relevance to the times, in organic form of what is happening in electronica and EDM hitherto. He is pure undisputed epic greatness!

Apart from his work at Abercrombie, crowds totally go mad in witness of his killer skills at live events...

"[Ted does] not disappoint. TK incorporated numerous genres of [EDM] and popular vocals into his set and the crowd was digging it! We were trying to find a word to describe his set while we were packing up and we decided that Ted Keyes played a very appropriate set, which is a huge compliment in the DJ community." - Trance Tuesday blog

His working career prior to Abercrombie & Fitch was at Sony Entertainment, in New York City, as a recording engineer where he spent nearly 2.5 years in role. Can't resist the sweet call of the Moose, and o'er to Columbus he went!

Ted's Twitter and IG are @teddyzep and @tedkeyes, respectively, and, though set private, may give you the friendly okay or nah. (The Sitch on Fitch Editor-in-Chief is a follower since last year and has had cool interaction with him and even Peyton; he is also followed by celebrities including Jesse Decker, wife of New York Jets' wide receiver Eric Decker, and by the Human Rights Campaign). His privacy is understandable, though his social media presence is only noted here for how widespread awareness of him came to be by 2013 through it in our community. Furthermore, he uses it as a connection tool for his work.

Loving the current playlists? Blast and dance on!

Stay FIERCE!

Follow @TheSitchonFitch

Corporate Culture! | Abercrombie & Fitch Chengdu Team...

         THE COUNTDOWN IS totally on for the upcoming inauguration of Abercrombie & Fitch in Chengdu, the world's first overseas mall-based A&F mecca! Overseeing the realization of this next historic landmark with an amalgam of elements of total FIERCE cool, it's A&F Chengdu's energetic and beautiful team to ultimately thank for! #LoveLoveLove!

Check out these awesome highlights of what the dream team has been up to, this month, leading to the much awaited day...

"Team brunch"   |   Image, Chantele (front right)
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Brunch with the team.   |   Image, Winter (left, 2nd in foreground in black)
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Team posing in front of giant panda at Chengdu IFS.   |   Image, Winter (second right)
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"Team Chengdu"   |   Image, Tina L., managers recruiter
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"Team Chengdu with the giant panda at IFS."   |   Image, Coney W. (far left)
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"A&F Chengdu Meet & Greet"   |   Image, Tina L.
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Hanging out at the Meet & Greet.   |   Image, Winter (center left)
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Hanging out at the Meet & Greet.   |   Image, Winter (center right)
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"One team, one dream!!! A&F成都店8月30日早上10：00整就开业啦
喜欢A&F的小伙伴，我们在IFS等着大家哦"   |   Image, Winter (top far-right)
8     A  U  G  U  S  T     2  0  1  4

In premium standing at the new and exceptional Chengdu IFS mix-development complex, the best of the A&F Experience welcomes fans on Saturday, August 30, 10:00 AM (CST; UTC+8)! Oh, and the first 200 inline get a free 1.7 fl oz bottle of FIERCE cologne. Just sayin'...

Stay FIERCE!

P.S. Read more all about A&F Chengdu at #THEHOTTESTBLOG (here)!

A&F Chengdu (store #11250, CN-ANF)
Chengdu IFS
No.1 Section 3 Hongxing Road
Chengdu, 51 610021

Follow @TheSitchonFitch

Corporate Culture! | Abercrombie Corporate Equality Index 2014...

         FOR THE 8TH consecutive year, our great Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has garnered a 100-mark score on the Human Rights Campaign's annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI) report – the 12th edition in the American LGBT advocacy group's history since its index's inception.

The HRC (official site) is the largest, reputable, and most influential of organizations of its kind in the United States. Readers may well recognize the HRC now even more prominently for being the entity which introduced the now-iconic marriage equality logo in red variant of the organization's original one. (The Sitch on Fitch proudly joined in support upon the campaign's launch with its viral impact back in Spring 2013). For the 2014 edition of the CEI, a record of 304 major companies (out of the 934 rated) earned the perfect 100 score and historically reflects, for the first time, the irrefutable movement of businesses in all 50 states working, with further involvement out of the boardroom and into government, for improving and protecting the rights of its LGBT employees – this attributable as subsequence to the landmark 26 June 2013 revocation, by the U.S. Supreme Court, of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. "Since the CEI’s inception 12 years ago, the HRC Foundation and our partners have been committed to raising the bar for corporate equality. But this year proved that businesses are committed to raising that bar along with us — and sometimes to even forging ahead. That’s news worth celebrating, and it’s improving the lives of millions of LGBT people every day," HRC president Chad Griffin processed.

" Abercrombie & Fitch has a longstanding commitment to embracing diversity in the workplace and is a proud supporter of the LGBT community. The Human Rights Campaign has awarded us a score of 100 percent in their Corporate Equality Index since 2007. We’re delighted to earn another perfect score on the 2014 index. " – Todd Corley, A&F Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer

The news was received fittingly on January 8 in the middle of Diversity & Inclusion Awareness Week at the Company.

View the Abercrombie & Fitch general business profile at the HRC (here). To read, and download for free, the 2014 Corporate Equality Index in its entirety, (see here).

Stay FIERCE!

Follow @TheSitchonFitch

Corporate Culture! | Abercrombie Diversity & Inclusion Awareness Week 2014...

         IT'S THAT TIME again! Via five days of interactive activities for associates around the world, Diversity & Inclusion Awareness Week at Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is a period dedicated to the importance of the significant ethics valued at the Company.






In 2013, a European associate told The Sitch on Fitch that he had never worked for a company which placed such a unique and delightful emphasis on key aspects of a positive and progressive team. As a wonderful symbol of our multifaceted American spirit and, too, as a multinational company, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. prioritizes making a positive impact everywhere be its presence on the planet in our modern, globalized world...

Stay FIERCE!

Follow @TheSitchonFitch

A&F Challenge 2013...

On Friday, September 6, Abercrombie & Fitch hosted the 12th annual A&F Challenge philanthropic event at its Home Office campus in New Albany, Ohio. The event opened at 5:00PM (EDT) to registered participants bearing the official A&F Challenge wristband (alcohol wristbands made available with Photo ID for use in closing Party). The 20 mile bike tour and 5K walk/run initiated at 6:00PM and 6:15PM, respectively. There was also the great Kids Challenge Zone, for registered children ages 12 and under, which included a 25-foot rock-climbing wall and an inflatable obstacle course. The Silent Auction also went on encompassing a varied array of notable items also to raise money for charity. Live musical performances for the outdoor concert on Campus were given by California-based indie pop band, Youngblood Hawke, and Canadian electronic music band, Dragonette, with A&F's own music-genius, Ted Keyes, present keeping the Party pumping! Gourmet food and drinks were at the ready, of course, with cool fun, with great people, for an awesome cause... The A&F Challenge 2013 US$1+ million proceeds benefit the Wexner Medical Center of the higher-education research institution, Ohio State University. #RISETOTHECHALLENGE

ABERCROMBIE

O N   I N S T A G R A M

(FOLLOW)

Official 2013 tee, laces, wristband, water bottle and participant tag.
Also, a pants-piece from the A&F Active line.

Grey is a treat! #WELOVEGREY

Everyone's favorite little one on Campus...

Color up, #WECOMERUNNING! #AF2013LACES

#RISETOTHECHALLENGE in style! #AFSHINE

Our guy Ted keepin' soundwaves hot as people prepped for their event!

Nothin' but smiles on a radiate day!

Youngblood Hawke performing "We Come Running" to a chanting crowd.

 

Drogonette onstage...

Registration for A&F Challenge is closed until next year. However, you can make a secure donation at anfchallenge.org, (here). Also, make sure you get to know A&F's amazing philanthropic effort (here) with profiled insight on its year-by-year incredible success...

Stay FIERCE!