Group protests Abercrombie & Fitch artwork, magazine

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A conservative women's group is protesting popular teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch over its in-store artwork and specialty magazine.

About 40 people, including members of Concerned Women for America of Missouri and one state representative, held signs that read "Ditch Fitch" as they milled in a parking lot Sunday across from Battlefield Mall in Springfield. Abercrombie & Fitch anchors the mall's south entrance.

"We're a family friendly community, and this pornography faces out into the mall," said Joey Davis, state director of the group.

Protesters said they object to in-store artwork that features men and women in sexually suggestive poses. They also object to the retailer's magazine, which includes pictures of men and women naked from the waist up.

Hampton Carney, a spokesman for the Ohio-based retailer, said some consumers confuse the quarterly magazine with the retail catalog.

Aimed at college students

The magazine costs $7 in the store and is aimed at college students age 18 to 22, he said. It includes humorous articles, movie reviews and other content. It's typically wrapped in paper or plastic with a content warning label and is sold only to those 18 and older.

"People have a choice whether they're going to buy this publication," Carney said Monday. "It's not something that just lands in your mailbox."

He agreed that store displays are sexually suggestive.

"It's really the image of our brand," Carney said. "It's sexy. It's youthful."

Rep. Mark Wright, R-Springfield, attended the protest and encouraged families to refrain from doing their Christmas shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch.

"The only thing they're going to understand is a hit in the pocketbook," Wright said Sunday.

Some Christian groups across the country also have objected to the magazine, but the retailer has no immediate plans to change, Carney said.

Concerned Women for America was formed in 1979, originally as a counter to the feminist movement. The group said it has 5,000 Missouri members and 500,000 members nationwide.