Netflix released White Hot on April 19th, 2022, a documentary about the clothing brand Abercrombie and Fitch. The documentary spoke on the ins and outs of how this business was run including the good, bad, and the ugly.
The Netflix Documentary about this infamous clothing brand called attention to things such as the history behind the brand, the store set up, the sales, and the overall advertisement of what the business had to offer.
But, most importantly, they acknowledged the parts of the racially motivated company. Their first tell-tale sign of racial discrimination within the company was in the recruitment department. The job of the “recruiter” was to scout out people that fit the criteria of an Abercrombie and Fitch employee. The criteria permitted things such as smooth slicked back hair and prohibited dreads. Pretty racially motivated rules if you ask me. Employees that fit this so-called “criteria” were assigned the “model” title and worked in the front of the store. Minorities were also hired but tended to be put in the back and worked in positions that they did not sign up for.
Giving select employees the “model” title (although they were just sales associates) allowed the company to play off the fact that they had physical appearance criteria in place for ordinary store employees.
Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch had the power of making the decisions for the company and he decided that A&F had physical criteria for employees that had a sense of sex appeal to the consumers.
“We hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that.” -Mike Jeffries
But, the racism within this company didn’t stop there.
The company kept up with the trend of graphic tees which was a never-ending trend that constantly required clothing brands to continue making graphic designs at a rapid pace. They wanted something quick-witted that would be funny and appeal to the demographic of teens and young adults. They made their biggest mistake when releasing a men’s graphic tee that pictured two Asian men that worked as cleaners, holding a sign stating “two wongs make a white.”
This particular shirt created an outburst of activist protests within the Asian community. Asian Americans protested outside of Abercrombie and Fitch retail stores across the U.S. expressing concern about how disrespectful their graphic design had become. Those specific shirts were then discontinued and literally burn by the company.
“Listen, do we go too far sometimes? Absolutely. But we push the envelope, and we try to be funny, and we try to stay authentic and relevant to our target customer. I really don’t care what anyone other than our target customer thinks.” – Mike Jeffries
I personally feel that the criteria created for the Abercrombie and Fitch employees, models, and team were not only racially discriminatory but also fatphobic and homophobic in their roots. The CEO strived for a look and, as the documentary stated, “fetishized” the idea of the all-American boy which included. but was definitely not limited to race, sexuality, and body type. Now that former CEO Mike Jeffries has stepped down and a new CEO has established a new reputation for the company, people can apply to the company and consume these products while feeling safe and included in the environment created.
I highly recommend that everyone watches the White Hot documentary on Netflix to become further educated on the misconduct of this brand.