Merrill Cook
One way to not adapt is to be so out of touch with your consumers that they find you offensive. That’s the route that A&F took when shooting their brand in the foot. While the aloof, woodsy-prep vibe fit for kids of the 90’s and early 2000’s, the previous ‘exclusivity’ of the brand quickly became offensive to the wider world. A world that’s increasingly non-white, sun-kissed, and uniformly dressed for a crew meet. After a series of discriminatory lawsuits from employees who didn’t have “the look” (including the pilot of A&E’s corporate jet, who was settled with after filing a suit alleging he was terminated for his age), as well as an interview in which an A&E district manager says they would rather burn clothes than give them to poor people, A&E found itself recently voted the second most hated brand in the America by 24/7 Wall street. While the closing of their brand for professionals (Ruehl) sucked up millions in 2009, the true root of their problem is being out of touch with the people that have always bought their clothes: teenagers. For a look inside their cultish and fetishized headquarters, check out this feature by NYMAG.
