With sales falling, Abercrombie ditches shirtless models

NEW YORK — The turnaround at Abercrombie & Fitch is taking another dramatic twist as the company known for its racy marketing and shirtless male models said it’s ditching all that.

But industry watchers are questioning the move to toss out the one thing A&F is known for, especially since the company has yet to offer a clear vision for reinvigorating their brand with their core customers: teens.

Abercrombie said Friday that by the end of July it will stop using “sexualized marketing” in materials, including in-store photos, gift cards and shopping bags. There will no longer be shirtless male models at store openings and events at either its namesake brand or the younger-skewing Hollister chain. In fact, forget about calling those guys “models” at all. The new title for all store associates is “brand representative.”

The only place where the shirtless model will remain: A&F’s Fierce cologne.

Abercrombie’s move comes as teens and young adults are abandoning it and preppy-styled rivals American Eagle Outfitters for the likes of fast-fashion players Forever 21 and H&M. A&F’s traditional logo-adorned polo shirts and fleeces have fallen from favor. Meanwhile, gadgets are taking a bigger share of teens’ pocket money.

Abercrombie’s same-store sales have declined for 12 consecutive quarters, according to Retail Metrics. In response, Abercrombie has said it’s dropping most of its logo business and churning out new styles faster.

“The question is, What will replace A&F’s iconic six-pack young men?” said Candace Corlett, president of the consultancy WSL Strategic Retail. “It makes sense to ditch them if there is a better idea. A&F had a real soul — whether you liked it or not, it had a real identity. I don’t see a new identity.”

Abercrombie isn’t the only company on the retail playing field abandoning its core image. American Apparel Inc. is reportedly migrating away from raunchy marketing since replacing its founder and CEO, Dov Charney.

Abercrombie’s announcement Friday also rewrote other parts of a playbook penned by CEO Mike Jeffries, who stepped down after a long tenure in December. Giving stores managers more say on how they display merchandise so that stores won’t feel as “prescriptive” is one noteworthy shift. Under Jeffries, Abercrombie stores were reportedly instructed to showcase merchandise uniformly, making a science, for example, of how a shirt should be untucked on a mannequin.

Dimly lit and heavily scented stores also will be things of the past. Abercrombie said it will brightening its domestic Hollister stores significantly after making the same move in Europe and Asia. The company is also making changes to stores’ aroma, music and display trees to offer “a more pleasurable shopping experience.” Many store shutters have been removed.

After being criticized for its hiring practices and even accused of racial and gender discrimination, Abercrombie also has pledged to be “more inclusive and diverse” in hiring and dress codes, saying it won’t hire staff “based on body type or physical attractiveness.” The company said that more than half of its store employees are already nonwhite. Abercrombie is also replacing its “look policy” with a new dress code, which it said is “an open-minded approach” to allow employees “to be more individualistic.”

One analyst sounded skeptical that putting shirts on models would change Abercrombie’s fortunes.

“I don’t think the poor performance was tied to the shirtless policy,” said Ken Perkins of Retail Metrics. “They have to figure out how to reinvigorate their offering to teens and young adults that are more interested in gadgets, experiences [and] social networking than updating what they were.”

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