Michael F. Jeffries: Wicked and Conspiring

I am quizzed over and over again on who leads the trends of fashion? Is it the fashion designer or is it the consumer? "THE DESIGNER!" they tell me. "No amount of marketing can make a consumer buy something. The designer creates what the consumer wants. Period." This argument turns my stomach on par with opposing Prop 8 arguments and defences of socialized economic policy.

Hoovers, a leading business research website that provides company profiles, is accessible for free at school. I've been researching Anthropologie because I love their product and would like to possibly design for them when I graduate. Part of my reseach has included gathering facts on their competitors. Unexpectedly, Abercrombie and Fitch comes up as their number one competitor.

I think everyone can agree that Abercrombie has some disgusting adds. If you don't follow Apparel News, seeing one add is enough to know what they are about. It's all soft porn disguised as well-intentioned advertising. Further:

"A&F continued to push the envelope with its A&F Quarterly in summer 2001. Under the theme "Let Summer Begin," the catalog featured naked and half-naked models having "wet 'n' wild summer fun" and T-shirts logos that read "I Have a Big One" and "Get on the Stick." The company pushed a little further in Spring 2002 with a line of T-shirts portraying Asian caricatures. Vocal protests from Asian groups forced A&F to pull the T-shirts from its shelves and issue an apology. Later that spring, A&F may have pushed a little too hard. A line of children's-sized thong underwear bearing sexually suggestive messages caused a furor among family-advocacy groups."

I'm glad the designers determined what their consumer wanted. "My name is Anabelle, I am 7 years old and I would like A THONG with a screen printed message on the front that says 'wink, wink' and 'eye candy.' I think this would be cute." Really? REALLY? When Abercrombie came under attack for this, they defended themselves with this statement:

"The underwear for young girls was created with the intent to be
lighthearted and cute. Any misrepresentation of that is purely in the eye of the
beholder."

You perverted badgers. My brain washed teacher(s) works so hard to brain wash me. I understand consumer influence. I understand finding an untapped niche. But why are morals always left out of the picture? How can they teach me the principle of not cheating on tests but then claim their is no such thing as morals when it comes to what we actually design. There is no limit; their is no line to cross. It makes me even more mad after seeing that movie, Taken. Just
the whole issue of sexual exploitation, most commonly among women.

Don't shop at Abercrombie. PLEASE! Just stop. Save your children and let this retailer die.