July 03, 2001
by RICHARD JOHNSON
with Paula Froelich and Chris Wilson
ABERCROMBIE & Fitch faces a Midwest boycott threat over its new, sexually explicit catalog hitting stores on Friday.
Illinois lieutenant governor Corinne Wood is calling for the boycott of the Ohio-based chain because, she writes on the Illinois state web site, "Abercrombie & Fitch is peddling soft porn in the guise of a clothing catalogue."
The new 280-page A&F Quarterly "magalogue," photographed by grandmaster of the homoerotic Bruce Weber is titled "The Best and the Brightest." It devotes its whole front section to breast- and butt-laden photo spreads of young models as college students frolicking nude or in various stages of undress, including a group shower scene and a nude co-ed football game. Buyers willing to shell out $6 for the book are supposed to be at least 18 and have proper i.d.
In an effort to legitimize its "magazine" content, the catalog has interviews with Bill Maher, "Sopranos" stars Jamie Lynn Sigler and Jason Cerbone, authors Rick Moody and J. T. Leroy, hip hop ingenue Princess Superstar, and bands like Sparklehorse, the Dandy Warhols and the Go-Gos.
But Wood is furious over the racy photos and "editorials" that Abercrombie's "university students" have written, which include a lesbian look at nude swimming and a sexually charged fraternity apology for being kicked off campus.
"A&F is glamorizing indiscrminate sexual behavior that unsophisticated teenagers are not possibly equipped to weigh against the dangers of date rape, unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease," Wood declares.
"A&F's publication not only flaunts page after page of fully and partially nude young people, it also features them in sexually explicit positions, in groups more often than not."
She fumes, "A&F's biggest market is still young teens and pre-teens . . . it is increasing the nudity and sexual content with each catalogue it prints. In fact, the summer catalogue features 35 percent more nudity than did its spring edition, and that catalogue featured a graphic interview with a male porn star . . . the buck stops right here."
Wood has even created a web site, StopAandF.com, where parents can sign the online boycott petition.
An unapologetic A&F issued a statement pointing out that every catalogue is shrink-wrapped and "denotes the mature content of the publication . . . Our policy requires purchasers show proper identification to complete the purchase of the Quarterly magazine."
� 1997
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