Lots to glean from this episode of The Journal by The Wall Street Journal summarizing the resurrection of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. The most important tidbit imho?
The fact that their increased focus on female customers -- especially millennial women, is what really saved them. ??
More specifically, Fran Horowitz took over as CEO and oversaw moves like:
? dialing in a good fit for their jeans
? incorporating more functional features like zippers over buttons (imagine if they tried GoFly Technology ??)
? offering an extended size range
When asked if there are any lessons here for other businesses, WSJ reporter Katie Deighton said her biggest take away from this whole success story was:
? "They listened to women, and they really heard them and took them seriously, and decided to take a strategy...of inclusion and solving problems that women have had for absolutely decades."
? "And it is really kind of that simple, but it took a lot of bravery to do so, and there's so much space here for companies to capitalize on, and Abercrombie managed to see that first..."
?? I've said it before (actually, we gave an entire TEDx Talk about it my first year out of college), and I'll say it again (I actually just pitched The Pitch on this!):
1. From about Jesus until about now, there has been close to zero innovation in women's apparel comparatively. Even less when it comes to the #outdoorindustry, and still less when it comes to pants (ok, trousers, @ The UK), which were never designed to be worn by women in the first place.
2. That means that small, simple, straightforward features we've incorporated since our very first production run at Gnara -- like pockets that are 48% deeper and 16% wider than the average pockets found in women's clothing (if they exist at all), inclusive sizing from 00-22, a sisterhood-of-the-traveling-pants-esque fit achieved by a 4-way stretch with an adjustable waist tie, and 3 different ways to wear our Go There Pants -- truly are revolutionary.
3. Not to mention our patented GoFly Technology zipper technology, which is solving a very real problem for the 52% of American women currently participating in #outdoorrecreation in the U.S., according to the Outdoor Industry Association.
4. Despite having built a 7-figure business in our first year of inventory in stock on only 2 products, we've barely begun to scratch the surface here after only three decades since it became legal for women to wear pants on the floor of United States Senate.
5. Listening to women is not a pivot for us -- instead, it's been the entire focus and core value upon which we founded this company. As this case study demonstrates, there is a major, mostly untapped market among women in every industry for Gnara and our GoFly Technology. If you or a brand you know needs our tech and wants to join the movement, reach out.
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