Do Abercrombie & Fitch Photos Go Too Far?

part of A&F display photo

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

Police in Virginia Beach, Virginia confiscated display photos of scantily clad models at an Abercrombie & Fitch store this Monday.

According to a police spokesman, mall shoppers had complained, and the store manager had been asked by an officer to remove the photos. When they were not removed, a citation was issued and the photos confiscated.

The poster-sized photographs featured three men wearing falling-down jeans, and a topless woman.

Police later dropped the charges.

part of A&F display photo

Photos of scantily clad models have featured prominently in A&F's marketing for many years, and will no doubt continue to do so. However, responses have been mixed. The company faced a boycott in 2003.

It will be interesting to see what sort of photography shows up in A&F's new Gilly Hicks stores. A&F's Gilly Hicks brand focuses on upscale women's underwear. The gillyhicks.com website, recently launched, doesn't feature clothes as much as it does beautiful models not wearing clothes. The Gilly Hicks website is posted as age-restricted; quote, "Our site shows a lot of skin." Seven Gilly Hicks stores are planned to open in 2008. The company has said they plan on opening 39 Gilly Hicks stores through 2010.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) stock fell on Monday and pulled away from a five-week high.