Presenters
Abstract
At the turn of the millennium, clothier Abercrombie & Fitch dominated the U.S. teen market. The brand courted cash and controversy across its marketing activities from shirtless male greeters to its risqué magalog. Published between 1997 and 2003, A&F Quarterly offered interviews with celebrities, travel tips and movie suggestions, along with selling clothes and featuring the erotic photography. This paper argues that the immaterial lifestyle developed by the A&F Quarterly helped to give life to the style of clothing sold by Abercrombie & Fitch at the time (i.e. the fashion). In doing so, this paper brands - like clothing - as a material of the fashion system. Moreover, the lifestyles that accompany any fashion can be understood as a form of cultural intermediation that frames the consumption of outside products while also drawing on the cultural capital of outside goods.