Editorial: Abercrombie, Fitch and who we welcome

Are you cool enough for Abercrombie & Fitch? 

Chances are, the answer is “No.” If you’re a woman who’s not skinny or if you’re anywhere near my age (56), the answer is “Definitely no.”

Editor Marv KnoxAbercrombie has been in the news lately because of reaction to old comments by the company’s CEO, Mike Jeffries. In 2006, he told Salon.com he only wants “good-looking people” in his stores. “Good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people,” he said. “We don’t market to anyone other than that.”

Abercrombie reinforces its marketing strategy by refusing to make women’s clothing larger than size 10. That policy provoked the ire of actress Kirstie Alley, known in recent years for her ongoing struggle with weight.

Attire for the homeless?

The brand also has been targeted by filmmaker Greg Karber. One of Abercrombie’s district managers reportedly said the company’s clothing collections aren’t intended for “poor people,” so it burns faulty clothing rather than donating it to charity. Karber has launched a campaign to re-brand Abercrombie by giving its flagrantly branded “A&F” clothes to homeless people. He’s vowed to make Abercrombie & Fitch “the world’s No. 1 brand of homeless apparel.”

(That strategy prompted a thoughtful discussion  at the Red Letter Christians website about the ethics of using vulnerable homeless people as virtual billboards in an economic/political campaign.)

On one level, the Abercrombie & Fitch fracas is just another cultural sideshow. But it provides a metaphor with deeper implications for Christians.

‘Our kind’ of people

Do we market our churches as clubs for “our kind” of people? No doubt, few congregations intentionally take that approach. But when we fail to make sure all people feel welcome, we’re promoting an exclusive “brand.” When we send out verbal and nonverbal cues that only people who dress, speak, think, act and look a certain way really belong, we tell everybody else they don’t.

I’ve talked to plenty of people who tried church but felt they just didn’t belong. Sometimes, they simply felt “other” than the church members. Far too often, they felt judged and condemned.

You’ve heard the old saying, “The church is a hospital for sinners, not a country club for saints.” But we always must resist the impulse toward clubbiness. We fail in our mission every time someone drives past a church building and feels the way all of us uncool people feel when we walk past an Abercrombie & Fitch store in the local mall.