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Our American Stories

Before the Mall: The Original Abercrombie & Fitch

Our American Stories

iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.6817 Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2026

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this episode of Our American Stories, Abercrombie & Fitch once ruled shopping malls in the 1990s and early 2000s, but its story began long before loud music and cologne. Founded in 1892 in New York City, the company started as an elite outfitter for explorers, presidents, and world-class outdoorsmen. Historian Ashley Hlebinsky traces the brand’s forgotten origins, from supplying Theodore Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart to becoming one of the most famous clothing labels in America.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

This is an I-Heart podcast.

0:02.6

Guaranteed Human.

0:14.0

And we continue with our American stories.

0:18.4

Abercrombie and Fitch stores conquered moles in the late 1990s and early 2000s with

0:25.0

gorgeous models, pulsing dance beats, and a fierce scent. But over time, revelations of

0:31.7

exclusionary marketing and discriminatory hiring practices began to engulf the popular brand in scandal.

0:39.1

What most people don't know is that the company was founded in 1892, in New York City,

0:46.0

as an outfitter for elite outdoorsman.

0:49.4

Here to tell the whole story is Ashley Lubinsky.

0:53.4

Ashley is the former co-host of Discovery Channel's

0:55.9

Master of Arms, the former curator in charge of the Cody Firearm Museum, and she's the co-founder

1:02.5

of the University of Wyoming College of Law's Firearms Research Center. Here's Ashley.

1:13.2

The name Abercrombie and Fitch, especially today, doesn't always invoke the most positive

1:18.9

image. If you've been into the store, you know that it's known for being darkly lit and

1:24.5

heavily perfumed and not very inclusive.

1:28.3

I always call it the trendy teenage clothing company

1:32.3

that got into a lot of trouble for not necessarily welcoming

1:38.3

a lot of different people into their store.

1:40.3

And I can say that from personal experience

1:42.3

because I work for Hollister and Abercrombie.

1:45.0

But in the recent years they have decided to do a rebrand.

1:51.0

And within that rebrand, the clothing line is a little bit more grown up.

...

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