Hollister Co. has released a new collection of ombré shirts and sweaters that range in size from XXS to XXL. The campaign slogan is “In it. For everyone” and the campaign photos include an entire spectrum of genders and body shapes. The collection is gender neutral and sports a small rainbow pinwheel symbolizing it’s part in the collection.
In stores, the collection has its own campaign posters and table which differentiate itself from the other collections in the store.
Aside from the collection, the website has expanded the sizes it offers. It used to only offer woman’s clothing up to a size large or a size 10 in bottoms. The clothing retailer has expanded to offering size XL or a size 17 in bottoms. The website no longer shows just petite woman modeling their pants and showcases larger models.
The men’s clothing also has included a diverse range of male models.
However, the lifestyle brand’s Instagram @HollisterCo, does not appear to have the same body shape representation. The advertisements for their “In it. For everyone.” collection do not have the same online models or campaign models from their in-store posters.
Instead, the clothing items are not worn by models and are laid out on a table. This is almost unique to these clothing items as their Instagram page has a lot of photos with people.
Regardless, the expansion of sizes is a big move for Hollister after their former CEO, Micheal Jeffries, infamously made quotes rejecting “fat” people. Jeffries was involved with Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch since the early 90’s, when he was on the board.
Back in 2013, a 2006 interview with Jeffries was dug up and shocked the retail world. Jeffries has said that "Abercrombie is only interested in people with washboard stomachs who look like they're about to jump on a surfboard.”
He also said that he intended to be exclusionary and "That's why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people.”
He made many other absurd comments that can be found in an Elite Daily Article.
His comments infuriated the world and marked his company as “anti-fat”, which nearly “cancelled” the brand and led to his early retirement in the following year when the company took a $60 million hit.
In his apology, Jeffries said that the things he said were taken out of context but did not provide that context he intended.
This was not the first time that the company tried to control who wears the brand. In 2011, Abercrombie & Fitch offered to pay Jersey Shore's Mike the Situation, $10,000 to stop wearing the brand and it's related trademarks. They also asked MTV to pixelate their logo.
Following Jeffries’ retirement, Fran Horowitz took over the company in 2017.
Since then, the company has seemingly attempted to rebrand itself and save its reputation. Horowitz has actively tried to change perception away from “arrogant and unwelcoming.” Horowitz’s efforts may have been working because Hollister saw a 4% sales growth that same year. However the company saw plummeting sales so far this year.
