In Other News: Abercrombie & Fitch Puts its Shirt Back On

by Elise Diamantini
A shot from Abercrombie & Fitch’s “Casting” section on the company website.
A shot from Abercrombie & Fitch’s “Casting” section on the company website.

Since Abercrombie & Fitch’s controversial chief executive Michael Jeffriesretired in December, the company has made lots of changes to the business, including nominating four women to its board. But the changes don’t stop there. Yesterday, Bloomberg Business reported that starting April 24, Abercrombie & Fitch is “retiring its ‘appearance and sense of style’ hiring rule that stipulated attractiveness.”

Bloomberg‘s Lindsey Rupp writes, “So gone is the legendary ‘Look Policy’ for employees, which banned French-tip manicures, certain hair-styling products and, among other things, mustaches. Clerks will be referred to as brand representatives, not models. They still can’t wear extreme makeup or jewelry, but the rules are gentler. The idea is that sales forces should focus on selling, not on obsessing over their level of accepted handsomeness.”

Brightening the lights and lowering the music volume in stores are among other changes the company is implementing. For the full story, go to Bloomberg.com.