PHOTO: An "A & F Quarterly" magazine catalog (right) for Abercrombie & Fitch clothing received in the U.S. Mail Feb. 10, 2001 is shown next to a parody cover illustration, depicting an old geezer body, for the business magazine feature story by Susan Berfield and Lindsey Rupp, photo by Finlay Mackay, "Holding on to Relevance: The aging of Abercrombie & Fitch, Past Its Prime How Abercrombie & Fitch and CEO Michael Jeffries lost U.S. teens, Behind the decline of Abercrombie & Fitch and the fall of its mastermind, Michael Jeffries" Bloomberg Businessweek, Jan. 26 - Feb. 1, 2015, cover, p. 3-4, 46-51
The now 70 years old Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries was married to a woman before coming out as gay and he started working for A & F in 1992 at the age of 48. Due to slumping store sales, he is being replaced with a new CEO in 2015.
Jeffries is known for "wearing his usual cuffed jeans with a blue-and-white striped oxford shirt and brown flip-flops." This explains why his leather flip-flops have always been better than those you can buy anywhere else -- executives who actually use their own products often understand quality because they are their own customer.
I always found it ironic that the most homophobic of heterosexual college frat boys could be seen around campus wearing Abercrombie & Fitch clothing because it did not require any gaydar to detect the gay porno images created by photographer Bruce Weber with Michael Jeffries.
In any case, I suspect that much of the business problems are due to the simple fashion business fact that nobody wants to wear the clothing of their father -- A & F is now old enough to have the grandchild, of a frat boy who wore it, old enough to wear it!
