A TikToker is calling out Abercrombie & Fitch following the release of a documentary that’s critical of the company’s hiring practices.
Kirby Mansour, who says she worked as a manager of the store back in the early 2010s, says the company did, in fact, discriminate against people based on their appearance — and added that details in the documentary are just the tip of the iceberg.
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You remember Abercrombie & Fitch, right?
The company started as an outdoors brand in the early 20th century before its revival in the early 2000s as one of the hottest youth-oriented fashion brands, and a mainstay in malls everywhere.
The company is still around.
Following a meteoric rise, the brand was rocked by a series of lawsuits from former employees that alleged that the company engaged in discriminatory hiring practices, hiring people based on attractiveness and race.
This, combined with changing fashion trends and the downfall of malls, meant that A&F took a big hit. It’s still around, but not nearly as big as it was at its peak.
A Netflix documentary added fuel to the fire.
The release of White Hot , a Netflix documentary that took a deep dive into the company’s rise and downfall, led to more chatter around the beleaguered fashion brand. While the documentary didn’t reveal anything new, it did revive the A&F controversy.
A former manager has some thoughts.
Kirby Mansour, who you can find on TikTok @kirbymansour , shared her experiences working as an A&F manager in the early 2010s.
“They left some parts out [of the documentary],” she said. “When I tell you, you guys would freak out if you knew the [expletive] that they made us do.”
They really did hire people based on their hotness.
In another video, Kirby says employees who weren’t attractive were banished to the back of the store and eventually removed from the schedule.
She also shares a story of moving a back room employee to the front to cover for someone who called in sick. A district manager walked in and said it would be better to “not open the store” than have that employee in the front.
The company was a little too obsessive about fashion.
Kirby said the company wanted its employees wearing head-to-toe A&F, clothes they’d have to pay for themselves.
“They were so focused on all the wrong things,” she said. “It would just blow my mind.”
It led to a lively discussion.
On all three of Kirby’s videos, hundreds of commenters chimed in. Many of them were former employees of A&F or similar stores, sharing experiences that mirrored Kirby’s. Some of them even claimed that A&F was much worse in the early 2000s.
The company has since changed its ways.
A&F was forced to commit to a more diverse philosophy following the lawsuits, and has been working to rebuild its brand ever since. Following the release of White Hot , company CEO Fran Horowitz released this statement on Instagram.
Did you ever shop at A&F?
If you’re of a certain age, you’re well aware of the cultural cachet that A&F once occupied. What were your experiences with the brand? Was it about the fashions, or the exclusivity? Would you shop there again?
Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments.
