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The tyranny of "Abercrappie" | page 1, 2
But as I tried to decide what to buy Ryan and my two other adolescent
siblings for Christmas, the sex didn't bother me. The brand's dominance
did. That dominance, in my opinion, has less to do with skin than with the
company's fusion of two settings: the city of hip-hop lore, and the college
of the frat-inspired free-for-all. The former can be seen in the company's
baggy, urban-inspired designs; clean-cut models on grassy fields embody the
latter. Also Today Watching TV on the bus The family for sale Sex is a mythical part of these settings, but parents often fail to realize that these places -- and thus Abercrombie -- symbolize more than the longing to get naked. Ultimately, they represent freedom, excitement -- a wide array of adventures that remain off-limits to the teenage children of today's SUV-driving parents. The Reynoldsburg, Ohio, company has posted 29 consecutive quarters of record sales and earnings, making it one of the world's best-performing retail brands. Surveyed teenagers repeatedly rank it near the top in terms of "coolness." To see that success only in terms of sex implies that teenagers are nothing more than their hormones, and that they are the company's only customers. Neither implication is correct. I know adults who wear Abercrombie clothing, if only the shirts that carry the company name on the inside label. And as for sex: Yes, many teenagers' bodies insist that the subject come up, and often. But hormones affect more than sexual desire. As adults, in our own lives, we know this. But when we eye our sons and brothers, amnesia strikes. Somehow we have forgotten -- probably because of our fears -- that the hormone-inspired energy of youth leads most often to neither sex nor violence. The brandishing of bare chests by teenage boys and their incessant raunchy chatter represent a healthy desire to learn, to push against adult boundaries, to discover the art of living. It's the same force that can be heard on the first Beck album, completed before he was old enough to vote. Even though Abercrombie taps into this pent-up energy with controversial content, the images don't matter. The company is "cool" not because of the sex or the beer, but because these subjects signify a much wider idea, namely the freedom to live as the kid -- not the parent -- sees fit. Opining on Abercrombie's appeal, however, didn't much change my decision to boycott the store. I still wanted Ryan to be above it all. But after putting my note in the gift certificate envelope, my smugness stung me. I already had bought books and movie passes. I feared the trick certificate placed me at risk of becoming the pedantic big brother. So I gave in. On Christmas eve, I bought Ryan a fleece jacket, marked down from $49.99 to $29.99. I justified it by remarking that the name "Abercrombie" only appeared on the inside tag and on the zipper. Ryan had been getting good grades, so I figured he deserved it. I figured my love should trump my politics. I figured his tastes mattered more than mine. Much to my surprise, my parents did the same thing. On Christmas morning, Ryan opened not just my Abercrombie box, but several others. We had resisted the call of the $70 pants, but ultimately we had given in. We had conformed, accepting Ryan's argument for "quality" and "clothes worth loving." And we all knew it. Mom, Dad and I glanced at Ryan as he stripped to try on each jersey, then stared guiltily back at each other. "I can't believe it," Dad said. "The little twit got what he wanted," I added. "And Abercrappie won. They got us." Then and now, I continue to fight back. I explain to Ryan how he's been made a pawn, a cookie-cutter version of youth. I'm hoping that he'll learn to dress and live for himself, not his peers or his girlfriends. I'm hoping he'll rebel against Abercrombie and his peers. If and when he does, we'll still have other battles to fight. Joshua, my 13-year-old brother, coiner of the term "Abercrappie," didn't get any of the company's clothing for Christmas. But when he opened the surf sweatshirt I got him, his first question was: "Where did you get it?" And as he watched Ryan open box after box from Abercrombie, Josh's eyes opened wide with yearning. Later, he dropped hints that maybe Abercrombie wasn't so bad. Ultimately, I'm not surprised. When Hannibal Lecter asked, "What do we covet?" he couldn't have been more right in answering, "We covet what we see." My only wish is that suburban, teenaged style looked less like a dress code. I wish Abercrombie had stiffer competition; that kids would demand more from their merchants. But most of all, I wish Ryan, Nicole and so many other teenagers would act as smart and savvy as I know they are. Until then, I'll buy them what they want -- then try and convince them to
hate it.
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