Controversy & Fitch: A History of Abercrombie's Most Flagrant F**k-Ups

Abercrombie & Fitch has found itself in a lot of hot water lately, but this isn't the first time.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Abercrombie & Fitch has found itself in a lot of hot water lately, but this isn't the first time the Ohio-based company has been the subject of much derision. Ever the hotbed of controversy, A&F has offended people left and right since it was bought by The Limited and rebranded in 1988. Prior to that, the brand was actually a really good purveyor of fine menswear.

Much of its current trouble is stemming from CEO Mike Jeffries, who admitted in a 2006 interview that the brand wants to cater to "cool kids" and there are some people that "can't belong" in their clothes. Let's take a look at the brand's most "WTF" moments wtih Controversy & Fitch: A History of Abercrombie's Most Flagrant F**k-Ups.

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A&F Quarterly is established as an artsy "magalogue" featuring nude photography and highly-sexualized editorials.

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A&F releases a series of shirts with jokes based around Asian stereotypes.

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Kids' store abercrombie kids sells thong underwear with suggestive sayings on it.

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Minority employees are relegated to low-visibility, back-of-the-store positions.

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A&F comes under fire from West Virginia for selling a T-shirt that says: "It's all relative in West Virginia."

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A&F is fined $115,264 for refusing to let a teen help her autistic sister try on clothes.

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Pennsylvania teens launch a "Girlcott" of A&F for selling T-shirts that depict sexist stereotypes.

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CEO Mike Jeffries says "A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong."

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A 21-year-old A&F employee is caught videotaping a 16-year-old girl in the fitting room.

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A disabled employee is sent to work in the stock room because of her prosthetic arm.

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A&F tries to sue Beyoncé claiming that "Sasha Fierce" interferes with its "Fierce" cologne.

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Muslim employees are fired for refusing to take off their headscarves.

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A&F is placed in the International Labor Rights Forum's "Sweatshop Hall of Shame."

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Model told to masturbate on camera ends up in "sticky situation."

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A&F offers Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino money to not wear its clothing.

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British tailors protest against A&F opening a children's store in London's storied Savile Row.

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2,000 retail workers petition against A&F's unfair scheduling practices.

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Former pilot reveals super-weird rules on the A&F private jet.

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Business Insider reminds everyone that A&F caters primarily to thin customers.

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