Trigger warning: this story deals with sexual abuse.
Few brands encapsulate the mood of the early '00s like Abercrombie & Fitch.
Even 14,000 kilometers away in Australia, the cultural impact of this fashion label was felt on a global scale.
These days, Abercrombie & Fitch has experienced a resurgence among Gen Z for its effortlessly cool aesthetic and more diverse range of models.
But most of us will still associate the brand with what it stood for in the '90s and '00s: super hot, always thin, mostly white, people… namely, shirtless men.
It's a brand that has fallen from grace in the past decade due in part to the body positivity movement, but also the mounting accusations against the brand and its CEO, most recently outlaid in a BBC investigation and Netflix documentary.
Watch the trailer for White Hot: The Rise & Fall Of Abercrombie & Fitch. Post continues after video.
This week, former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries was criminally charged by US federal prosecutors with sex trafficking and prostitution.
10 years since Jeffries left the label, dozens of men have claimed they were baited by Jeffries with the promise of modelling jobs and international travel before being sexually abused.
"To anyone who thinks they can exploit and coerce others by using the so-called casting couch system, this case should serve as a warning: Prepare to trade that couch for a bed in federal prison," US Attorney Breon Peace said at a press conference.
Jeffries' partner, Matthew Smith, and his associate, James Jacobson, were both arrested alongside the former CEO, with each man charged with one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution related to 15 unnamed victims whose allegations date back to 2008 and until 2015.
If they're convicted, the three men could face possible life sentences for the sex trafficking charges.
Jeffries' lawyer, Brian Bieber, said he would respond to the charges in court.
These charges against Jeffries and his alleged conspirators follow some troublesome years for the brand.
In 2022, the label was the subject of White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, which documented the rise and steep fall of the stores from public favour.
A lot of the film was about the unattainable perfection the brand platformed, but there were some deeply problematic stories shared too.
Former staff members painted a picture of a discriminatory environment for workers. One revealed in-house guidelines contained racially explicit language, banning dreadlocks as "unacceptable."
One ex-recruiter said that the subtext of such rules "wasn't not racist."
The tone-deaf comments extended to the brand's products, where t-shirt slogans that mocked Asian and Hispanic people were commonplace.
In 2008, Samantha Elauf said she applied for a job at A&F but was rejected due to her choice to wear a black head scarf.
At the time, the company said Elauf's scarf went against its 'Look Policy' which followed a 'classic East Coast collegiate style' dress code.
After filing a complaint, Elauf's case was heard by the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Elauf, finding that the brand had violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Five years earlier in 2003, nine former employees of colour filed a suit against the company, alleging that their employer forced them to work in undesirable positions and terminated their contracts on the basis of their race.
A settlement was eventually reached.
Equally as egregious, the documentary spoke to former models about the brand's fashion photographer, Bruce Weber, who has been accused by multiple male models of inappropriate touching, coercive sexual behavior, and sexual assault.
Models claimed if they refused his advances, Weber would fire them on the spot.
"There was a guy that would get a call from Bruce. He would get invited to come over for dinner," former model Bobby Blanksi said. "Then they'd go over, and I would not see them the next day."
Then last year, a BBC report blew the Jeffries allegations wide open, with the UK news publication sharing their harrowing allegations against the CEO and his partner.
In one story, a former model Luke (not his real name) spoke about being guided to Jeffries' presidential suite in a hotel in Spain in 2011. "It was like a movie set of an Abercrombie store," he said. "And I thought we were going to do a photoshoot."
In the room, erotic photos of men's abs adorned the walls as a group of assistants pretended to be Abercrombie & Fitch shop workers.
The assistants did role-play, encouraging him to act as a shirtless greeter, before a talent scout introduced Jeffries and his life partner, Matthew Smith.
It was here that Jeffries allegedly forcibly kissed Luke and performed oral sex on him.
"I tried to say no repeatedly. And then I just got kind of convinced to do something. But I constantly was saying no, and I wanted to go," Luke told the BBC.
In another account, Chris (not his real name) alleged that Jeffries' assistants had injected liquid Viagra into his penis.
He told the BBC he felt he was "going to die" after being left feeling "hot, dizzy" and in shock. He claims that nobody called for an ambulance.
BBC's report is not only a damning case against Jeffries, but the entire culture he curated around him. He assembled a team of assistants tasked with travelling around the world with him to recruit men for these alleged assaults that took place between 2009 and 2015.
Luke and Chris' stories are two of eight accounts from men who spoke to the BBC.
After the arrests of Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson, prosecutors said that the "middleman" Jacobson would conduct "tryouts", where male recruits as young as 19 would have sex with him before being given to Jeffries and Smith.
Jeffries and Smith paid for dozens of men to meet them for sex at their homes in Manhattan, the Hamptons and Long Island, along with locations around the world.
The indictment alleged the two men were "dedicated to fulfilling their sexual desires and ensuring that their international sex trafficking and prostitution business was kept secret, thereby maintaining Mr Jeffries' powerful reputation".
A civil lawsuit filed in New York in 2023 accused A&F of allowing Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organisation during his 22 years leading the company.
The lawsuit claimed that victims were found through modelling scouts scouring the internet, and the scheme involved the use of muscle relaxants, 'poppers' (recreational drugs) and large sex toys.
The men were required to sign non-disclosure agreements, which meant they would have to pay damages if they told anyone what had transpired.
Michael Jeffries left Abercrombie & Fitch in 2014.
Following his arrest in October 2024, the state called Jeffries to be held on a $10 million bond.
If this brings up any issues for you, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) — the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.
Feature image: Getty.
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