If you walked into an Abercrombie & Fitch in the late 1990s through the mid-2010s, believing you were simply walking into a clothing store, you would quickly realize that it wasn’t primarily selling polos and jeans. It was selling sex — to children.
So, if you ever visited an Abercrombie & Fitch store during those years, you would now be disgusted, but not shocked, to hear that the CEO, Mike Jeffries, has been charged with running a sex-trafficking ring that exploited young men for his and two other older gay mens’ pleasure.
It turns out that a man who paraded sexual images and ideas in front of millions of children and teenagers had an interest in breaking down the inhibitions of young people so they would have sex with him.
Abercrombie & Fitch’s advertising leaned heavily on youthful, clean-cut, clean-shaven sexuality — much of it homoerotic.
The business sexualized, objectified, and demeaned girls, as well. “Who Needs Brains When You Have These?” were the words across the chest of one girls T-shirt. Another girls T-shirt, reading “Freshman Fifteen,” listed fifteen boy names.
Recall that Abercrombie & Fitch targeted a young audience. The message was always clear: you should be more comfortable with and interested in sex — and not just sex, but deviant sex.
“Sex, as we know, can involve one or two, but what about even more?” This was in the Christmas edition of a magazine — yes, a magazine — published by Abercrombie & Fitch in 2003.
“The menage a trois (three way) is not an uncommon arrangement. An orgy can involve an unlimited quantity of potential lovers. Groups can be mixed-gender or same-sex, friendly or anonymous,” the magazine copy said, according to SFGate.
“Toward the back of the catalog, an article offers advice on three-way sex and the importance of having lots of carnal experiences in college,” the outlet reported.
Why would a clothing retailer undertake the task of encouraging teenagers to try anonymous orgies?
“It’s very healthy to be free and be honest about it,” said Sam Shahid, Abercrombie & Fitch board member and advertising legend. The New York Times praised Shahid for “paving the way for a more open-minded approach to branding.”
“There’s no such thing as being too sexy,” Shahid said. “You’re speaking to the kids.”
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Sure enough, the retailer sold thongs reading “eye candy” to 10-year-olds and defended it. Perhaps Shahid would reconsider his comments, given the recent federal charges against his former colleagues.
A federal prosecutor alleged that Jeffries “was using his power, his wealth, and his influence to traffic men for his own sexual pleasure, and that of his romantic partner.” He was also clearly using his clothing company to groom young men and women for that sort of thing.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
