Fifteen Minutes: The Beautiful and the Damned: Enforcing 'the look' at Abercrombie & Fitch

The game begins the moment the doors open. Trendy music pulsates as the players emerge, clad in matching jerseys, all number 52. Itis a low-down, dirty fight to conquer fashion in the world of Abercrombie and Fitch. Clothing is just the beginning. Body, face, popularityothese are the contenders.

Abercrombie & Fitchothe store and ithe looki that accompanies itohas not only invaded Harvard square, but teen-consciousness everywhere. With glossy catalogue photos featuring chiseled male bodies doubling as wall decorations for crazed college girls, itis easy to become a player. But few benchwarmers realize that the rules are more rigid than they might seem at first. And the game much more superficial.

The Players

iThe key is not only to be good looking but have lots of energy and be cool.i This description from Randy J. Gomes i02 should come as no surprise to the typical Abercrombie patron. Letis face it, the workers at Abercrombie are hot. This is because the brand name aspires to hire a unique brand of worker: one who sells their clothes with their classically preppy good looks. iThey donit hire just based on looks, but do tell us to give applications to pretty people,i Gomes admits. Scot D. Hopps i01, was one such pretty person recruited by the Abercrombie squad. This tall, blonde varsity baseball player was solicited while walking through the store one afternoon. iI was shopping and they asked me if I wanted a job,i Hopps recalls, iI filled out an application and they gave me this job right there on the spot. It was pretty sweet.i However, the recruitment strategy sometimes sours for Abercrombie. Sarah E. Lewis, a striking black junior, wondered why a store with almost all white models was propositioning a minority to sell their clothes. iThey said I had the Abercrombie look,i Lewis, who turned down the offer, says. The Abercrombie team is willing to expand their playing field, going to all lengths in their endless pursuit for ithe look.i iThey told me theyid pay me if I wandered around the square asking pretty girls if they wanted to work with me in Abercrombie,i Hopps says. iThey even went so far to ask me to bring in my teammates. I didnit do it though. I would have felt sleazy.i The Chicago branch of the Abercrombie conglomerate doesnit share Hoppsis inhibitions. A manager there went so far as to pluck a student right out of his dorm room.

iA sophomore brought some managers to the hall and they were looking at our pictures on the door,i says Scott Jones, a sophomore at Northwestern University. iThey knocked on the door and asked me if I wanted to work there.i But the fierce competition is not confined to mere appearances. The coolness factor also plays a role in the hiring process. Gomes, who worked at the Abercrombie store for more than a year, watched as the storeis target group changed with its surging popularity. As the store became more mainstream, Gomes was told to look for potential employees involved in the Greek fraternity and sorority system. Others have recounted being questioned on their underage drinking habits during the application process. But Abercrombie takes points off for sainthood. iThey asked what I did for fun,i says Lindsay K. Hall i01. iThey wanted to hear that I drank and went out. They said they were looking for someone they would hang out with, or want to.i

The Uniform

Once on the team, the Abercrombie players have to aspire to a certain look outlined in a 15 page, five-by-five pamphlet, known as the iLook Book.i Before workers sign on, they usually peruse the book, agreeing to conform to its appearance standards, ranging from length of shorts to types of jewelry.

iGirls had to have shorts above a certain length,i Gomes remembers. iIf you didnit come in with a certain pair of sandals from J.Crew, theyid force you to go home. When I left, they were implementing the New Balance rule, forcing us to buy expensive silver tennis shoes. Just the other day, I went into the Harvard square store and I saw all the guys wearing the same shoes and thought, eI hate this place.ii

Hopps, who worked at the Harvard store for three months this fall after his intense recruitment, managed to dodge the rigid shoe requirement. iThey told me I had to shave my facial hair, which is okay, because I am not really attached to things growing on my faceobut then they wanted me to wear these stupid new balance shoes,i he says, iAnd I am not buying shoes just to stand around that store.i

Apparently, a pretty face is not the only requirement for standing around the storeoand shoes are only the beginning. According to Hall, fashion has to complement beauty. iOne time I got in trouble for wearing clothes that were on sale in the store,i she said. She also recalls her superiors describing the key to the Abercrombie ilook.i iThey said, you know everyone here is attractiveowe do this on purpose.i For this conglomerate, selling clothes is not about the quality of the fabric; it is simply about the of the people who wear them.

The Game

But the game is just as intense as the training. At the Fanueil Hall store, employees are strategically placed throughout the throngs of shoppers and carbon-copy outfits. The store even has a special position, iGreeter,i who stands outlined by a silver box at the entrance.

They told me to stand in a silver square and they gave me a lacrosse stick,i Gomes recollects. iIt rocked. I was getting paid eight bucks an hour to stand there and look popular. On one of the hottest days of the summer, they asked two girls to put on bikini tops and stand in the square. They were supposed to look like they were having fun.i But not all employees were blessed with Gomesis fortune, or his good looks. Gomes recalls that they sometimes hired iscrubby girls,i who often had trouble getting scheduled during peak shifts.

iA lot of the scheduling has to do with how you look,i Gomes says. iThey didnit put unpretty people on during peak times. The scrubby girls had to clean all the time. The greeters didnit even have to refold, just stay within the metal square.i

On the other hand, employees like Hopps were in control of their game. iI could just tell them when I wanted to work,i He remembers. ieWhatever you want is fine,i theyid tell me.i

The Coaches

The masterminds behind the scheme have a lot to with how the game plays out. Each store will inevitably differ from the next. Although Abercrombie has a home base located in Columbus, Ohio, each manager has a different game plan. Jones, who forged a friendship with the manager of his Chicago branch, gained an inside perspective on her unique approach.

iMy manager, a 23-year-old woman, would say that sheid only hire people sheid consider sleeping with,i Jones says. ieFuckable or not fuckable,i sheid say. And it was an unspoken rule with her that girls were at or below a size six.i

Although the managers take some liberty in their interpretations, they can never escape from the Abercrombie home base. In the end, the president of the company maintains ultimate control. When Abercrombie President Michael Jeffries visited the Fanuiel Hall chain, employees primped their store and their look for three days in advance. On the day of the visit, some girls were sent home right away for donning the wrong sandals. Penalty.

Only days after mothers across the country had united in protest to the racy new Abercrombie catalogue, the head coach pushed the team forward. Gomes recalls the presidentis visit: iThe president, who epitomized the hip, old man look, said to us, eAt Abercrombie & Fitch, we donit apologize. We do what we want.ii