Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, was arrested Tuesday in Florida, accused of sex trafficking and using his seat atop a fashion store to force men into sex acts for a chance to model for the brand.
according to IndictmentJeffries, his partner Matthew Smith and an employee of theirs, James Jacobson, allegedly ran an international sex trafficking and prostitution ring from 2008 to 2015, a period that largely overlapped with Jeffries’ time as CEO from 1992 to 2014.
Jefferies was fired from the company nearly a decade ago, but the latest allegations are reminiscent of the sex scandals that plagued his tenure, along with the leadership style that nearly sank Abercrombie & Fitch.
Abercrombie dates back to 1892, when it specialized in clothing and bags for travelers and outdoor enthusiasts.. But when Jefferies took the helm in 1992, he set about turning Abercrombie into the premier teen retailer of the 1990s and early 2000s, rebranding it with logo-emblazoned clothing and a hyper-sexual prep ethos. The company issued catalogs that some critics at the time said bordered on pornography, and employed half-naked young men at store entrances.. Jefferies also had great success launching surfer-adjacent brand Hollister in 2000.
Eventually some of Jefferies’ surprising behaviors came to the surface. In early 2010, news reports about his transgressions included questionable use of company funds for travel, a significant role for his wife in running the business, and a manual containing detailed instructions on how to be treated by employees on a company plane, and how those employees should dress.
Jeffries also displayed an autocratic streak as a leader, and a disdain for people he thought were inferior to him: he infamously said Abercrombie & Fitch was only for “cool” people. The top-down management approach worked well…until it didn’t.
By the 2000s, his “my way or the highway” approach meant that the company was missing important cultural shifts and turning away from consumers, who were becoming less interested in the company’s logos and exclusive atmosphere. By late 2014, Jefferies went out of business after 11 straight quarters of declining same-store sales and severe damage to the brand.
While Abercrombie scrambled to reorganize itself after Jefferies’ exit, the company had been run for more than two years by an “office of the chairman,” made up of top executives, including Fran Horowitz, who became the company’s CEO in 2017.
Horowitz was tasked with leading the shocked and frustrated employees. It also did the difficult work of more clearly defining the Abercrombie and Hollister brands, which had become virtually interchangeable by the end of Jefferies’ reign. Horowitz has built a massive e-commerce business, which now makes up 50% of the company’s sales. By 2022, after years of retail agony, Abercrombie & Fitch’s revenues had finally rebounded to 2014 levels. Its shares had risen sixfold in the past decade, and last year annual revenues reached $5 billion.
More recently, Horowitz has launched new initiatives such as an activewear line a few years ago, and a wedding venture this year. Meanwhile, with sales up 21% last quarter, the story of A&F’s strong comeback is undeniable in large part thanks to all the drama and trouble Jefferies has caused.
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