When I first heard that CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch Mike Jeffries has an issue with fat chicks wearing his clothing I was appalled. I remember browsing the racks at A&F when I was in high school, knowing that my size 14 body would never be able to fit into any of their clothes. Pangs of wanting to belong, shame for being bigger than the waif like models all over the store and a desire to be included in the crowd all flicked through my mind. It never occurred to me in that moment that this was intentional because the guy in charge didn't want me to represent his brand.
The largest women's pants available at A&F are a size 10. I'm willing to bet that this isn't the first time in fashion history that a brand or line has been exclusive. Most high end designers design for models that are under a size 2. Sample sizes are often in a size 6 or lower. I've never heard someone admit that he doesn't want fat people wearing his clothes. The douche-baggery has obviously been handed down to everyone who works there. Also, when clothes are irregular or made wrong, instead of donating them to homeless shelters, they actually burn them. An A&F manager said, “Abercrombie and Fitch doesn’t want to create the image that just anybody, poor people, can wear their clothing. Only people of a certain stature are able to purchase and wear the company name.”
Crazy town. This can't be a good business plan. Back to Twitter. This morning I tweeted
I am someone who considers Twitter somewhat of a game. I'm always surprised what gets re-tweeted and what doesn't, except for my SuperBowl Tweet, "
My #fitchthehomeless tweet has been re-tweeted 38 times and favorited 15 times. It's also elicited some backlash from people who are standing up for the homeless. I'm a bit confused about this.
What is #fitchthehomeless? To be honest when I wrote my tweet, I didn't actually know what it was. I just used deductive reasoning to figure out that people were giving A&F clothes to homeless people because that is the EXACT opposite of what CEO Mike Jeffries has in mind for his brand. Brilliant. How funny. Nothing like bringing light to asinine behavior and helping out people in need at the same time. When I decided to write this blog I googled #fitchthehomeless and discovered that Greg Karber had posted a video to YouTube in which he went to his local Goodwill, the one in Los Feliz, I've been there too Greg, good choice, and purchased all of the A&F clothes he could find. He then drove them to Skid Row and handed them out to people in need. Awesome. I love this even more.
After Tweeting I got this . . .
----I actually do donate clothes on a regular basis and often do nice things. . . this isn't my agenda, just an observation.
and this . . .
and this . . .
I'm curious what you think? Is this exploitative? No one is making money off of the homeless people. In fact, its quite the opposite, they are going to get some pretty nice, if not douchey looking, well made clothes.
Today we find ourselves in a world full of bullies, surrounded by trashy tabloids that sell because they rip apart a celebrity for having cellulite and our government has passed laws making declaring that corporations are people too. We've become so apathetic in our lives that all of these things have become tolerated. Hate begets hate and at least Greg is doing something to bring light to this behavior.
Whether the naysayers above believe it or not Greg is making a difference. He's keeping this story alive, making it relevant by putting it on YouTube and making it fun for people to donate to the homeless while tagging their good deed online with hashtag #Fitchthehomeless.
What do you think? Is Greg in the wrong and just as bad as Mike?
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE> . . .
