Abercrombie, Pushing a New Image, Confronts Accusations Against Ex-C.E.O.
The New York Times
Recent sex trafficking charges against Michael Jeffries could implicate the retailer, too, as it tries to close a tumultuous chapter in its history.
Fran Horowitz, the chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch, said it plainly: “We are no longer the company that we used to be.”
That was in 2017, and Ms. Horowitz was referring to a series of crises that had tainted the clothing retailer during the tenure of her predecessor, Michael S. Jeffries, who had led the company from 1992 to 2014. There were lawsuits accusing Abercrombie of discriminating against Black, Latino and Asian employees; blowback for selling sexualized clothing to children; and accusations that its marketing to “the attractive all-American kid” excluded potential customers based on weight.
Under Mr. Jeffries, Abercrombie’s stores emulated nightclubs, with dimmed lighting and images of half-naked young models lining the walls.
Ms. Horowitz took the helm in 2017 and revamped the brand’s image. Its stores are brighter, its models are fully clothed and its stock has soared, bolstered by customers’ embrace of the expanded product offerings.
For a time, Mr. Jeffries’s legacy seemed to be a dark period that would stay in the past. But new accusations against him, more serious this time around, have come to light. They have threatened Abercrombie’s revamp of its image and could put the company at financial risk.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors charged Mr. Jeffries with running a sex trafficking scheme from at least 2008 to 2015, while he was at the helm of the company, coercing young men to attend events around the world where he and his romantic partner sexually exploited them. The indictment echoed allegations that were first unearthed last year by a BBC investigation and a civil lawsuit accusing Mr. Jeffries of using the prospect of modeling jobs at Abercrombie to abuse dozens of men.
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