Abercrombie & Fitch Puts Its Clothes Back On

Abercrombie & Fitch’s new television commercial—its first in more than a decade—lacks the bare skin and chiseled torsos that once defined the label. Instead, a man in a rugged coat gamely stands in the snow, a bicycle atop his car. Twenty-somethings shoot pumpkins with a slingshot on a farm. Two women kiss at a club.

After years of declining sales, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is reinventing its namesake brand and shunning the exclusionary preppy stereotypes that made it a powerhouse of teen clothing. Its new merchandise and the accompanying campaign portray a more mature version of Abercrombie, pushing adventure and playfulness over exclusivity and sex appeal. They hark back to the original brand motif, an outfitter that catered to adults going fly fishing or mountain climbing, not high school kids amped-up on pheromones. The new spot even uses the old A&F logo, a relic of the company’s early days.