I really thought bullying stopped when you became a grown up, but it’s rather apparent that the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, never matured past 18.
Three women, sizes 8, 12 and 14: in an online survey, men favoured a fuller figure. (from http://www.theage.com)
Most of you have probably already probably read and/or heard about his disgusting comments about why their company refuses to clothe plus size folk, but if you haven’t, please visit and this link or this link to read some of the quotes. Here is just a sampling:
“Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong”.
“A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong.”
The “cool kids” at my high school were obsessed with this store. I was NOT part of the popular crowd in high school. I refused to even step foot into the store -except a few times- one of them being when my boyfriend HAD to have orange cargo pants (we were both nu-metal kids, that’s my only explanation for that) and they were the only store who had them. I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes the entire time.
I could never really figure out why I hated the company so much, but I have a feeling it had a lot to do with the fact that their clothes were exceedingly expensive and I perceived a lot of the people who were obsessed with A&F as snotty or douchey. The “preppy” kids. I owned ONE shirt from the store and that is because it had a 4 on the front (my lucky number), and it was a baseball shirt with green sleeves (my favorite sport and favorite color). Even though I was skeletal in high school and could have easily rocked a lot of their clothing, I didn’t WANT to follow what the cool kids at my school were doing (nor could I afford $50 for a new sweater every month).
I always thought it was stupid that people judge each other based upon what clothes they wore back then, and I still believe that now. I have friends of all shapes and sizes. I love each and every one of them just the same. I personally don’t really give a crap how much money you make or if you’re a size 0 or size 14 as long as you aren’t mean to other people and you embrace life. Call me innocent or whatever you want, but I don’t believe in excluding people unless they’re dangerous or mean.
Unfortunately, not all teenagers (and apparently adults?) have the mindset I have, and I am appalled that this man is adding to the body image problems that some young women and men already have by publicly announcing his hatred for people that aren’t up to his standard of beauty. Not to mention this man is extremely unattractive himself. Hello, hypocrite.
Either way, Ellen sums my feelings on this subject a lot more succinctly: “Fitch, please.”
And then there is this man, who is amazing and turned this situation into a way to give back, by giving Abercrombie & Fitch clothing to the homeless. I don’t know about “rebranding” – I’d prefer the brand just disappears.
On the flip side, companies like H&M have amazing plus size models who are turning their new found fame towards good deeds, like Jennie Runk, who says: “it’s OK to be confident even if you’re not the popular notion of “perfect”.” You can read her article here. Plus, H&M clothes are cuter in my opinion, anyway. I’ve always loved that company.
So anyway. The bottom line is that people that think they are better than anyone else because they are skinnier, taller, etc suck. We’re all put here on this earth together, and you get nothing good in life out of picking on people for their weight or what they look like.
You are in charge of yourself. Be healthy. By all means, there’s nothing wrong with trying to improve yourself and lose weight, but you should never do it because someone else thinks you should change. It’s really true that if you exude confidence and positivity, people will respond in a good way. It’s very hard to do, but it really just makes life that much more worth living.
In conclusion, Mike Jeffries is a jerk. H&M, Jennie Runk & Greg Karber rule. Everyone is beautiful in their own way.
PMA.
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