Last week, some older comments by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries got wide play in an article on Business Insider. In 2006, Jeffries admitted that his stores marketed to a certain demographic and that they didn’t want other people wearing their brand. He said “We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.” The Business Insider piece pointed out that A&F does not carry women’s sizes above a large or size 10 although they do have men’s clothes up to XXL. A&F’s gradual decline could be due to their unwillingness to serve plus-sized customers, which seems to be built in to their marketing policy.

Sites like Reddit ran with those comments and made memes out of them for a while, and Jeffries was bashed for sizeism, and to a lesser extent, racism. Former employees of A&F and their sister store, Hollister, claimed that only white, attractive young people were allowed to work the floor. This isn’t new for A&F, they’ve faced lawsuits over race and sex discrimination in hiring. This is a new PR crisis though, and they should handle it with humility. Only not so much. Jeffries issued a statement in response to this that makes it clear that he hasn’t changed his stance at all:

“I want to address some of my comments that have been circulating from a 2006 interview. While I believe this 7 year old, resurrected quote has been taken out of context, I sincerely regret that my choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offense.

“A&F is an aspirational brand that, like most specialty apparel brands, targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers. However, we care about the broader communities in which we operate and are strongly committed to diversity and inclusion. We hire good people who share these values.

“We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics.”

[From ET Online]

He comes across as haughty and clueless as he did in the earlier interview seven years ago, but at least he’s trying. There’s no self awareness in this statement. There’s no acknowledgment that they’ve made mistakes and need to change. Plus he didn’t address the main controversy at all. The issue was over the fact that A&F doesn’t offer clothes for larger customers by design. They do it on purpose so only the “cool [white] kids” will be seen in their brand. He basically said the same thing here, they’re not changing that policy. They “care” about the “broader” (lol!) communities and they’re not going to admit that they only hire the most attractive young staff to work in their stores. They have to say this because they paid out millions in a class action lawsuit. Abercrombie & Fitch is opposed to discrimination and “derogatory characterizations” because they were busted carrying t-shirt designs which were racist. They have to say that too. Nothing in this statement makes me ever want to support this company.

Here it is, at long last – Kristen Stewart’s first Balenciaga ad. She’s become the face of Balenciaga’s newest perfume, Florabotanica. Which sounds like the same of a vampire, right? Or am I just imagining that? “I’d like you meet my vampire friends, Angelgrace and Florabotanica. They come from the 18th century.” As for the actual ad – it’s awful too. It’s like they morphed Kristen’s face with.. Marilyn Manson? Or someone with a giant jaw. Like, Rumer Willis. The whole thing is pretty disappointing, actually. Let’s see how good Kristen is at the shill, though – she did an interview with Women’s Wear Daily about the scent – full piece here, and here are some highlights:

Kristen on what perfume is “about”: “On a base level, the reason you want to wear a fragrance is because you want to smell attractive,” said Stewart, sitting in a suite of Le Bristol hotel here, wearing a Balenciaga T-shirt, shorts and heels. “That in itself is a pretty mature idea, especially considering the teenager I was. I was never the one wearing my mom’s perfume and trying to be sexy. I was like hanging out with my brothers and doing the opposite of that.”

Kristen actually likes the way it smells: “I’m very lucky that I like the fragrance, because I would have done anything with [Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquière],” continued the 22-year-old. “And I’m a terrible liar.” Stewart said she was relieved the first time she smelled Florabotanica. “There is something natural about it,” explained Stewart. “It’s very alive. I think that as a young person wearing it — considering that I’ve never worn a scent — it kind of puts you on this level of, like, ‘Whoa, check me out.’ ”

Kristen thinks it’s ART: “Even though, yes, it’s an ad and we’re selling a fragrance — I don’t want to sound pretentious — but I want to be part of this art project,” she said. “I want to be around Nicolas when he gets excited about fabric. I want to see the look on his face when he sees me put on a dress.”

What she thinks of the ad: “I think that’s kind of perfect for this particular ad. Usually, a fragrance ad would definitely be like,” said Stewart, striking an exaggerated, sexy lounge pose on the couch. “When I first stood there, I was like, ‘OK, do you want me to show the curves of the dress? Do you want me to stand like this? Like that?’ And they were like, ‘Just be comfortable.’  I find when you do a really good photo shoot, you’ve unlocked something that you didn’t necessarily know you had in you,” said Stewart. “There are qualities that certain clothes, or certain environments and certain people, bring to the surface that can be surprising. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not authentic.”

She digs Brigitte Bardot: “I think the hottest chick that’s ever walked the earth is Brigitte Bardot, and I couldn’t be more different from her,” said Stewart. “So my style icons and stuff, even if I look up to them and think they’re really cool, I don’t think [they find their] way into my own sense of fashion.”

Kristen on her new role: Up next, actingwise, is a leading role in “Cali,” directed by Nick Cassavetes. She explained it’s about a couple “in the valley that gets involved with really strange people, really screw themselves over and become alienated, reinsert themselves into that world and try to survive. It’s really ‘Grindhouse’-y — extreme in every way.” To physically prepare for the part, Stewart will become tan and make her hair blonde. “I’m going to get into the best shape of my life,” she said. “I’m going to look like a stripper. I’m going to look like a p0rn star.”

She’s not a liar: “If you don’t know why someone is the way that they are, then you’re just playing a caricature of a girl,” she explained. “So if an emotional scene comes up or something, I never want to lie. I don’t want to think about my cat dying when I was younger. A lot of times, you’ll read a script and you can identify with things that are very surprising, things that kind of shock you about yourself. And the process of making the movie is finding out why those feelings occurred,” said Stewart. “Sometimes they’re not always easy to define.”

[From Women’s Wear Daily]

I eye-rolled a bit at several parts. I mean, obviously Bruce Weber is a talented photographer and Nicholas Ghesquière is an artist of design, but let’s not climb over each other to claim that a print ad for a vampiric perfume is somehow “ART”. Maybe it is to some. But it really did sound pretentious, caveat or not.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I was surprised that more people weren’t interested in Blake Lively’s latest endorsement deal. Less than two weeks ago, the announcement came: Blake Lively got her second major endorsement gig. Her first was for Chanel (obviously!) – she represented (represents?) Chanel purses, and she was handpicked for the gig by none other than Karl Lagerfeld. Now Blake also represents a brand new perfume – Gucci Première. Blake got to call the shots too – she asked for (“demanded”) Nicolas Winding Refn (director of Drive) to film the commercial. Which I can’t wait to see, because it will be interesting to see if Blake is a better actress in a perfume commercial than she is in films and television. I’m starting to think of Blake like I used to think of Megan Fox – a glorified music video girl who just overshot her mark.

That was all just some tangent, though. The header is the brand-new ad for the perfume. Thoughts? It’s very…eh. I like the dress in the ad – too bad they’re not trying to sell me the dress. Is the image striking? Not really. It just seems blah and basic. It’s not Blake’s fault, I don’t think. She looks pretty, she’s giving good face and face-reflection, although I think the face-reflection (full-on) is prettier than her profile. The weirdness of angle means that your eye (my eye) comes to rest on her profile… namely, her nose. Namely, her nose JOB. Remember vintage Blake and her perfectly fine (although slightly larger) nose?

I’m sorry, but Blake’s nose is man-made, and I’m not crazy about some (obviously) sculpted nose job being the centerpiece of a multi-million dollar ad campaign. I know I’m nit-picking, but all I did was stare at her fake nose for three full minutes when I first saw the ad.

I’m also including some additional photos of Blake on Friday. I have those shoes in a different color.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

I was surprised that more people weren’t interested in Blake Lively’s latest endorsement deal. Less than two weeks ago, the announcement came: Blake Lively got her second major endorsement gig. Her first was for Chanel (obviously!) – she represented (represents?) Chanel purses, and she was handpicked for the gig by none other than Karl Lagerfeld. Now Blake also represents a brand new perfume – Gucci Première. Blake got to call the shots too – she asked for (“demanded”) Nicolas Winding Refn (director of Drive) to film the commercial. Which I can’t wait to see, because it will be interesting to see if Blake is a better actress in a perfume commercial than she is in films and television. I’m starting to think of Blake like I used to think of Megan Fox – a glorified music video girl who just overshot her mark.

That was all just some tangent, though. The header is the brand-new ad for the perfume. Thoughts? It’s very…eh. I like the dress in the ad – too bad they’re not trying to sell me the dress. Is the image striking? Not really. It just seems blah and basic. It’s not Blake’s fault, I don’t think. She looks pretty, she’s giving good face and face-reflection, although I think the face-reflection (full-on) is prettier than her profile. The weirdness of angle means that your eye (my eye) comes to rest on her profile… namely, her nose. Namely, her nose JOB. Remember vintage Blake and her perfectly fine (although slightly larger) nose?

I’m sorry, but Blake’s nose is man-made, and I’m not crazy about some (obviously) sculpted nose job being the centerpiece of a multi-million dollar ad campaign. I know I’m nit-picking, but all I did was stare at her fake nose for three full minutes when I first saw the ad.

I’m also including some additional photos of Blake on Friday. I have those shoes in a different color.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

I’ve always thought that whoever is in charge of choosing Gucci’s spokes models/faces had very weird taste. In retrospect, it was kind of interesting for Gucci to choose two up-and-coming talents like Evan Rachel Wood and Chris Evans to represent Gucci Guilty. But I thought the choice of James Franco (for “Gucci Sport”) was odd and ill-advised. And now Gucci has a new perfume, and a brand new “face” – Blake Lively. Blake actually alluded to this mess in a recent Bullett interview, with the writer noting that Blake had “just wrapped her third and final day on the set of a still-undisclosed fragrance commercial, which was directed by Drive auteur Nicolas Winding Refn.” Blake said: “He was my first choice.” So… this isn’t just a print ad campaign. Blake will star in commercials for the Gucci perfume, and the commercials have already been shot – by Nicolas Winding Refn. Here’s more:

In a move not so dissimilar to that of a football transfer, actress Blake Lively has leapt from Parisian luxury giant Chanel and into the arms of fellow premier-league stars Gucci.

The American actress, 24, has been cast as the face of new Gucci scent Gucci Première, which takes its name from the couture line launched by the brand in 2010.

Inspired by Old Hollywood charm and all the glitz and glamour surrounding it, the fragrance is for a woman who is “living her moment, whether it’s on the red carpet or at a private dinner”, according to Gucci creative director Frida Giannini.

Lively was picked “because she is a girl of extraordinary beauty and she’s a girl who loves fashion. She has great taste in clothes”, Giannini told WWD .

“Although she’s young, she’s also very determined, and I liked this spirit.…She knows how to be a diva in the right sense, with an aspirational glamour.”

Lively, who scored her first fashion campaign as the face of Chanel’s new Mademoiselle handbag line in March last year, said she “couldn’t be more proud” to be working with Gucci. She added: “Gucci is a staple. It is a brand I have always looked up to because to me it represents strength”.

Each of Gucci’s Première creations can take up to six months to make and have been worn by red carpet sirens Salma Hayek, Jessica Chastain and Cameron Diaz. The fragrance is set to go on sale in the U.K. in late July.

[From The Telegraph UK]

Oh, that was just chock full of goodies, wasn’t it? Blake is a girl of “extraordinary beauty” who “has great taste in clothes”? We could debate that one all day. I’ll cosign the whole “she’s very determined” thing, though – give it to her, guys. She IS determined. She IS ambitious. And that’s not a bad thing. As for Blake’s “aspirational glamour” – why does everyone always kiss her ass about her fashion sense? She styles herself, and most of the time it’s not all that great. Most of the time she looks like a downmarket Mall Girl. But whatever. Blake got a new gig. Good for her.

PS… The photos of Blake in orange – that dress is Gucci. It’s one of the few times she’s worn Gucci on the red carpet. I’m also including some of her Chanel ads.

Photos courtesy of WENN.