No more topless models at Abercrombie & Fitch as firm drops attractiveness rules
Shoppers come first as firm changes dress code and drops hiring rule for good-looking males
Job-seekers need not have to be good-looking to work for Abercrombie & Fitch now. They can wear eye-liner, though not necessarily a nose ring.
The changes are the latest for the once high-flying retailer, which pioneered the sexy preppy look and made male models with ridiculously ripped abs a billboard standard.
By retiring the "appearance and sense of style" hiring rule that stipulated attractiveness, Abercrombie is scrapping the last of the legacy of former chief executive Mike Jeffries, who left in December last year.
"We've put the customer at the centre of the business," said Christos Angelides, the president of the firm's Abercrombie brand, who along with Fran Horowitz, the Hollister brand's head, are vying for the chief executive's job.
The two said dress-code and other changes were part of their plan to cater more to shoppers. Stores and clothes were tailored to Jeffries' whims for too long, they said.
Jeffries turned Abercrombie into a global brand during his 22-year reign, with 965 stores in 20 countries. But as sales fell, his management style was questioned. Until last year, the firm refused to sell clothes in black.