Abercrombie & Fitch faces opposition to catalog

FOXNews.com reports that Abercrombie & Fitch, the sportswear retailer that puts out the decidedly homoerotic “A&F Quarterly,” is encountering opposition from a coalition headed by Illinois lieutenant governor Corinne Wood. Wood, who has enlisted support from groups as diverse as the National Organization for Women and the Concerned Christian Americans, announced the boycott campaign last week in Chicago. A&F spokesman Hampton Carney says the catalog, which is intended for buyers 18 or older, is also a lifestyle magazine and is targeted at the college-age market. Past articles have included interviews with porn stars and a piece titled “Drinking 101.” The Rev. Bob Vanden Bosch of CCA says, “The exploitation of sex and young people in A&F’s catalog is not only atrocious but also a psychological molestation of their teenage customers,” while Michelle Dewlen of NOW labeled it “a soft porn magazine.” Carney says there are no plans to change the publication, adding, “You have to be true to your customers.” He also notes, “There’s nothing in it you don’t see on any public beach in Miami. It’s the Normal Rockwell of 2001—wholesome images of kids having the time of their lives.”