A&F announced this week that they will be working to remove their logo from their clothing offerings in North America in order to keep up with logo-less peers and appeal to a more frugal teen market.
The company that used to signal "rich and popular" (or "thin and attractive," if you go by their CEO's comments) is now seeing its sales drop thanks to cheaper, more fashionable alternatives like H&M and Forever XXI.
Some folks seem to think the issue is due to reduced teen spending and the rise of non-branded, affordable fashion. However, its hard to believe trendy teens are building a brand-blind frontier.
After all, though their spending habits may have changed, teens --and adults -- still lust over $90 Lululemon yoga pants, and wish as you might that they'd go away, $200 Ugg boots are still a must for many.
A more simple explanation for the brand's troubles?
Abercrombie and Fitch just isn't cool anymore.
Affordable fashion chains like ASOS and Brandy Melville may be experiencing a big boom with teens, but that doesn't mean buyers have given up on the expensive stuff. Trend-sensitive consumers will always identify status brands, and mixing investment pieces with a more affordable wardrobe is totally acceptable, if not cool in its own right.
High-low fashion is hardly a new concept, but Abercrombie and Fitch most likely finds itself in the middle. It's no longer desirable as a teen luxury brand -- one to be showcased and saved for -- and nowhere near the price points of the fast fashion chains outpacing them.
The removal of the moose is an attempt to move closer to their downmarket competitors, but it's questionable whether it will work. The company has so vocally, and for so long, positioned itself as the cool jerk brand comfortable in its own popularity, it's hard to imagine what its future looks like now that it's being eclipsed by the new kids in town.
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