Abercrombie & Fitch – the first image that pops up in our minds are muscular male models in half buttoned “so-cal” shirts, and fit, young women who are dressed in tight jeans. There is no doubt Abercrombie & Fitch has successfully branded and marketed itself as the brand that symbolizes “attractiveness” in our modern day world. Moreover, other than being able to identified as a high quality and expensive clothing line,  A&F are selling the “attractive” image which worked very well among most teenage and young.

However, A&F has been in recent lawsuits as they were accused of discriminating against plus-sized customers. A&F do not produce anything above the large size, and Mike Jeffries (CEO) has stated that they do not want “large people in their stores, and only thin and beautiful people”. It is important that a company has a clear value proposition, but A&F’s value proposition was clearly not appropriate. Although it is acceptable to target young individuals with the “attractive” image, it can hurt the business’s reputation if they discriminate against of those who are not the customer segments of their businesses.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/not-available-in-xl-abercrombie–fitch-ceo-mike-jeffries-accused-of-only-wanting-thin-and-beautiful-people-8608022.html