Shocker, Abercrombie & Fitch can design chic clothes
Abercrombie & Fitch conjures many a throwback memory — naked, homoerotic male models on shopping bags, logo-heavy sweatshirts, migraine-inducing cologne spritzed into store ventilation systems.
But the old Abercrombie of yesteryear is out for good, replaced by a new, streamlined (and chic) version.
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Take a look at its first men's collection under new creative director, Aaron Levine, who made his way to the brand back in August of 2015. The menswear director has taken a charge with the brand's men's line and it's looking promising. Following the footsteps of the newly revamped women's, which Levine has no part in, it's looking sleek.
"We have an amazing opportunity to evolve an iconic American brand," Levine tells Mashable. "We are working to get back to the roots of this brand, where quality, integrity, details, fit, fabric and finish were the prime inspiration."
The new line introduces fresh fabrics and silhouettes, such as linen and suede. Outerwear includes a lightweight nylon trench, bonded wax Mackintosh coat, and a suede bomber. It also includes handsome basics, like cashmere and cable knit sweaters, and t-shirts that have a worn in, faded look.
It's fresh, it's modern, it's what menswear looks like in 2016.
It's fresh, it's modern, it's what menswear looks like in 2016.
If the different offerings from the new A&F seem familiar, it's not a coincidence. Levine spent many years refining Club Monaco, a brand known for its classic staples, ranging from sweaters to tapered trousers.
He's doing the same with this new and improved men's line, which is hardly anything you remember from before.
Indeed, the brand's heritage comes from sporting and excursion goods. When it was founded by David T. Abercrombie and Ezra Fitch in 1892, it was created as an elite sporting goods retailer, offering everything from fishing boats to rods to tends.
It was only in recent years when the retailer became best known as a polarizing mall brand, catering to the "cool kids" in high school.
That's due to ex-CEO, Mike Jeffries, who stepped down in December of last year. Jeffries, who introduced the overt sexualization of its models, often nude, was controversial.
"Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends," he once said to Salon. "A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”
Jeffries was also the one who introduced tongue-in-cheek racism to the brand with one shirt that poked fun at Asians.
But the brand was determined to fight back and start over from its broken teenage ashes. Last year the brand said it would be quickly moving forward to a new iteration.
"We have been on a journey," Fran Horowitz, A&F's President and CMO, told Mashable in April. "We are focused on the future, not the past."
This means that Levine has a big task ahead of him.
Not only does he need to attract new customers, he has the task of appeasing the old, fans of "A&F" logos, who go to the brand for its name recognition.
"We hope to take our current customer with us, and are very much looking to extend the top end of our age demographic," he tells Mashable. "The clothing is becoming more elevated, so we hope this resonates with our current guy as well as attracting a new customer."
Levine knows he has a long road ahead of him, especially when it comes to reintroducing the brand to its customers. He sees it as a long, steady race, rather than a sprint.
"When you work on a project like this, you cannot be afraid," he says. "It's not a case of simply flipping a switch and changing everything at once. We are slowly evolving the whole brand, without alienating and walking away from our current customer."
For the future, Levine wants to ensure that the brand is known for its quality and fabrics, "obsessively focusing" on details, he says.
Looking ahead, he wants to handle the brand with consistency.
"It is our goal to consistently and constantly deliver unique, special, beautiful products to store every season," he says.
And from the looks of the latest, seems like it's extremely promising.
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David joined the Mashable team as its first fashion hire. He's written for the Wall Street Journal, Elle, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, Details, Nylon, Refinery29, Fashionista, and covered the men's market at Women's Wear Daily. David has appeared on E!, Vh1, the Style network, and was a stylist at Capitol records.
