Abercrombie and Fitch: What is the Abercrombie documentary about?

White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch is a Netflix documentary on the cultural phenomena of the popular American shop, notably its rise and fall in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  What the documentary illustrates is that Abercrombie’s uniquely toxic blend of exclusivity and prescriptive fashion could not exist in today’s fashion landscape.

White Hot recounts the brand’s ascension as well as its eventual crash landing. The documentary, which features interviews with former Abercrombie models and staff, including some who were involved in a class-action suit against the shop, aims to shed light on how Abercrombie manufactured its enormous popularity and why it burned out so abruptly.

The film focuses a significant amount of time on detailing Abercrombie’s never-ending list of problems, from its discriminatory employment practices to the closet’s worth of racist graphic T-shirts it released. One of the most terrible instances is a spoof advertising for “Wong Brothers Laundry Service,” with the motto “Two Wongs Can Make It White.”

The most high-profile case reached the Supreme Court when A&F refused to hire a woman wearing a hijab because it violated the company’s “look policy.” Abercrombie was defeated.

Bruce Weber, the photographer famous for A&F’s sensual image, was accused of sexual harassment by the male models he worked with.