Sex, Polo Shirts and Rugby: An In-Depth Look at Why People Idolize the Abercrombie & Fitch Lifestyle

You've all been in an Abercrombie store at some point, whether you were shopping in there or someone dragged you into the store. The Abercrombie & Fitch experience is unlike other stores at the mall; upon entering and being greeted by the half-naked store model in front to feeling the pulsating techno beats take over your senses, you feel lost in a place that is halfway between a club in Hollywood and a clothing store for prep school kids. It's an interesting combination, but it totally works.

Abercrombie is so successful not because of its' clothing - we're talking jeans with paint pre-splattered on them and faded t-shirts with holes here - but because of its' mass appeal to the modern day youth through highly perceptive marketing. I began shopping there when I was fourteen, and the effect Abercrombie & Fitch had on me certainly changed my lifestyle and how I wanted to present myself throughout high school. I remember when I walked out carrying my large bag depicting practically naked, gorgeous male models in full color, I was mesmerized. (I'll let you in on a little secret: I collected all the bags from there and put them up on my walls).

Life size wall displays throughout the store portray a lifestyle that many of us want: casual luxury, which is how Abercrombie describes its' clothing. Youthful people are shown engaging in afternoon games of rugby, tumbling around in the mud wearing polo shirts that cost $49.50 and cargo khakis worth $89.50. These images are portraying the wealthy lifestyles of young adults ranging from the Hamptons to some exclusive East-coast prep school, whose only concern for the day is what outfit to wear before heading to the lacrosse game with a bunch of sexy co-eds. And who wouldn't want that? i would certainly love to spend all day making sure I look fabulous, then go and have a good time with more fabulous looking people (as superficial as that sounds) in an exotic treehouse on some secluded island.

We as consumers are buying into that lifestyle. We are programmed to think that with every pair of ripped Abercrombie jeans and button-up shirt we buy, we are one step closer to living the Abercrombie dream, or at least look like we lead that kind of lifestyle. Let me tell you, I own so much Abercrombie clothing you wouldn't believe it, but I have never once engaged in a half-naked game of rugby with guys that look like models or been able to pull off a pair of jeans with dirt and paint already placed there for me. Why would I want a pair of expensive and ironically, dirty jeans? Oh wait, I get it now. Those jeans are supposed to look like I've already engaged in that messy game of rugby I spoke of! I answered my own question.

Abercrombie likes to tease its' audience. I like to call it "classy porn". After all, they shoot the pictures in black and white, then have a naked girl (with certain body parts barely covered) wearing a string of pearls lying in an abandoned canoe or something equally random. While they like show a lot of skin and suggest certain things, they never go all the way (for legal reasons). For example, they'll depict a girl and two guys in a bathtub together, but they have partial clothing on, so everyone has their own idea of what is happening. And we can't blame the company for our own interpretations! One guy can say, "They're indicating a threesome!" but then someone else can say," Not at all! They were simply playing around in the bathtub - besides, the girl has a shirt on, and that guy has jeans on, so how could anything happen?" A & F manages to get away with it every time.

Then there are the suggestive slogans on the shirts. "Single To Mingle", "I Kiss Better Than I Cook", and "Freshman 15" (with a list of 15 boy's names) are a few of the more tame ones available. There are slogans suggesting sexual positions and pick-up lines, all geared to catch your attention. I can't even begin to say how many lawsuits the store has to deal with every other month because of what their shirts say. But nonetheless, these shirts are increasingly popular, and so many of them are purchased that Abercrombie has no problem affording the multiple lawsuits.

I find the musical choices interesting as well. I am a huge fan of electronica, so of course I love the music in there, but one has to wonder, what made Abercrombie choose that particular genre of music? One would think that representing the "all-American" lifestyle, they would play classic rock perhaps, or maybe Jack Johnson/john Mayor type of music. I don't know the answer, but I have a theory. The music provides quite a contrast to the environment, and electronica music tends to get your heart rate up and almost frees your mind in a sense. The loud music is geared to attract people in to the store, so one constantly feels as though they are at a party. The desire to dance soon kicks in, and Abercrombie has actually experienced an increase in sales because people stay longer in the store to hear the music, and naturally, they end up buying more clothing.

I think a lot of people like to go to Abercrombie because it provides a sort of escape, a fantasy land if you will, for those that aren't happy in their lives or regular environment. So if a girl can find happiness by going to A & F to bask in the pulsating techno music and surround herself with life-sized black and white pictures of naked models and dream about days of running through the woods of Cape Cod, then why should she be denied that enjoyment?