Recently, former top fashion brand Abercrombie & Fitch has once again become the focus of attention around the world.
This brand was once a leader in teen fashion and took the world by storm. Every time they open a new store, they invite a group of male models with great body to advertise on the front platform of the store, which is very eye-catching.
Leading A&F to the top is 79-year-old former CEO, Mike Jeffreys.
He single-handedly planned a number of popular sexy marketing strategies around the world, such as semi-nude male models, but he was also mired in scandals due to various controversies, such as being exposed to discriminate against Chinese and exploiting women.
In 2014, Jeffrey was fired from A&F. However, although people are gone, the matter is not over. Although it has been nearly ten years since his retirement, the sins he committed back then have been shaken out one by one.
Recently, Jeffrey was hammered by the British media and exposed a disgusting scandal:
When he held power, he always used his influence and power to hold multi-person parties and sexually assault many young male models...
There are male victims who wake up after being stunned and even find condoms left in their bodies...
20 years ago, Jeffrey was once considered a fashion legend.
He began his tenure as CEO of A&F in 1992, growing the brand from a $25 million annual "fashion backwater" to a $2 billion annual sales empire.
Before he joined, the brand mainly provided high-end outdoor products and equipment for middle-aged people, but he pushed the crowd to transform it into a high-end fashion casual brand designed for young people aged 18 to 22.
Jeffreys made it clear that A&F's clothing is only designed for "cool, attractive and good-looking" young people and is not welcome to ordinary people.
Under his deliberate marketing campaign, A&F became a trend among young people, synonymous with "cool".
Every A&F store has pictures of handsome men and women, the staff are all tall young and handsome women, the softly lit store plays deafening electronic music, and the air is filled with the smell of delicate cologne.
A&F's propaganda is perpetually filled with a large number of sexy, half-naked men, who are usually athletic, muscular and wear only A&F's jeans or shorts.
Whether it's advertising
It is also a tote bag that comes with your purchase
Or a huge promotional image outside the store
Or simply stand in a line outside the store to attract customers to the flesh propaganda ...
In the fashion industry, male models have a harder time getting ahead than female models.
As a result, many young male models want to become A&F models and sharpen their heads for a job opportunity.
And this, too, gave Jeffreus the opportunity to extend his claws to these boys...
The BBC recently released an explosive investigation after a two-year follow-up investigation.
In the report, 12 male victims publicly accused Jeffries of sexual assault.
Eight of them described a very similar experience: they were sexually exploited and abused at a multi-person party hosted by Jeffrey and his same-sex partner, Matthew Smith, induced by an intermediary.
This exploitation mechanism, during Jeffreys' tenure, has become a well-functioning system.
He has special recruiters (commonly known as pimps) whose main task is to attract young people to Jeffreys' parties, and they can be paid up to $1,000 for each successful introduction.
After successfully recruiting young men, a professional "beautician" will perform a body treatment and shave their body hair before they participate in the activity.
Victims are then forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement warning them that they will be subject to legal action if they leak any information. After they sign their names, the agreement is taken away, and they are not allowed to keep any copies.
Afterwards, they will be led to Jeffreys's private mansion in New York, or luxury hotels in the world's major fashion cities...
Among the victims was a young heterosexual model, aliased Alex, who recounted what happened back then.
After auditioning with an agent in 2011, he flew to Marrakech, Morocco, for an event.
(Agent James Jacobson, Alex and later Bradbury were all introduced by him)
During the party, while he was dancing, Jeffrey tried to ask for a kiss, but he refused. But then, without knowing what happened, he fell asleep in a room. When I woke up, I found a condom in my body...
"I believe I was likely to be drugged and sexually assaulted."
Another victim, David Bradbury, experienced something similar. In 2010, Bradbury was just 23 years old when he was selected by an agent.
The agent called in A&F's official photographer, Bruce Webb, to audition for him and sent the photos to Jeffreys like a flop for him to choose from.
(By the way, this photographer is also a raccoon raccoon, who was exposed to using the power of the fashion industry to sexually assault many male models in 2020)
At first, Bradbury thought it was a formal job opportunity, but the agent told him that he had to have a relationship with the agent before he could meet A&F or Jeffreys.
Bradbury recalled: "I froze, using fame and career opportunities as bait, and in exchange for obedience. ”
At the time, the agent actually told him: "This is how everyone's business begins." ”
To survive, Bradbury obeyed—naively thinking that as long as he hooked up with A&F, he would never encounter this creepy intermediary again.
When he was done, the agent gave him an A&F gift card and asked him to buy a costume to go to the party.
At that point, Bradbury thought it was a "legal" and "formal" opportunity, believing that Jeffrey had enough power to support his fledgling modeling career.
But in fact, after Bradbury was taken to the mansion and expressed his desire to become an A&F model to Jeffreys, Jeffrey did not respond immediately, but used drugs and asked to have sex with him.
It was a remote mansion surrounded by staff in A&F uniforms, and Bradbury was in a dilemma and had to obey.
Finally, when he left, he received envelopes containing thousands of dollars in cash from these employees.
In addition, former model Barrett Parr also disclosed his experience of sexual assault after being recruited into Jeffreys's intimate circle.
In 2011, an A&F model invited him to a party and hinted that it was a pathway to a job offer, as long as he was willing to have certain "special" interactions with Jeffrey and his partner Smith as a "substitute for their sexual experience."
The senior, who had always been very good to him, told him, "The more you play, the more you get." ”
At that time, although Parr was a little hesitant, in order to give face to his seniors and fight for job opportunities, he still participated in this party.
It was a nightmarish experience: At a party, he had to kiss his boss under the watchful eye of CEO Jeffreys' partner, Smith.
He was then invaded by another man, and two male models came over to have sex with Jeffrey and Smith.
Pal admits: "The experience broke me. ”
This is true of almost all victims.
They were recruited by a middleman to party in hopes of getting A&F modeling opportunities. Despite knowing that these activities may be related to sex, as strong and defensive young men, they came with a fluke mentality, leaving a shadow for a lifetime...
After the scandal broke recently, A&F immediately drew a line:
"We are shocked and disgusted by the conduct described in Jeffreys's allegations, and it has been nearly a decade since his employment relationship with A&F ended in 2014.
It's not easy to stand up and speak up, and we are with those who speak up. ”
While the former owner was eager to cut the relationship, Jeffrey remained silent throughout.
His lawyer claimed:
"Jeffrey is 79 years old and retired. Over the past few years, he has chosen not to comment on media reports, documentaries, and stories of any kind related to his personal life — and doesn't plan to do so now. ”
However, in the face of so many testimonies of exploitative sexual assault, it is difficult for anyone to believe that he is innocent.
Now, Jeffreys's sins have finally been made public. This belated truth may be somewhat solaceous for those who have been hurt. However, because of the difficulty of obtaining evidence in sexual assault cases, in the foreseeable future, although Jeffrey was exposed for his evil deeds, the judicial accountability will still be difficult.
In the face of power, the exploitation and bullying of the low-ranking by the high-ranking will not change because of gender, age, and physical strength. As long as the systematic environment that fuels his arrogance does not change, the probability of similar things happening is still not low, how can it not make people sigh...