Marketing the Rainbow

Abercrombie & Fitch: the ads

Branche: Fashion

A&F (est. 1892) started using sexily clad hunks in their advertisements in the 80's. Soon, the garments no longer played a prominent role. These are two ads from the A&F "megalogue".

One insert to Vanity Fair showed a middle-aged man and young man in playful, romantic poses aboard a sailboat, an ad that many read as a gay couple - even though in reality they were the son and grandson of actor John Wayne.

Surprisingly, in these pictures some clothing is visible.

Yes. They are twins...

A BFF hug? A rare 'lesbian' image from A&F.

Male pole dancers. Business as usual. Oh - and male patrons.

More shower fun. Are those A&F towels, perhaps??

The most overtly gay-specific that Abercrombie has ever done was an image from the Winter 2000 issue of A&F Quarterly. It shows a double wedding of the Emerson family.

Ironically, the reply card responses include "No... I'm liberal, but not that liberal" and "Yes... I'd love to see two women get married."

Stills from one of the four "Webersodes": short films made by Bruce Weber around a wrestling theme. In one of the four, the scene is mostly in a shower, and is adorned with a kiss on the forehead.

The iconic topless 'hosts' of the A&F flagship stores, one of the accomplishments of CEO Mike Jeffries.