Abercrombie and Snitch

If your adolescence wasn’t marked by the smell of Abercrombie & Fitch “Fierce” locked into the fibers of your clothes, frankly, we’re a little surprised. As hip as we felt in our A&F ensembles — baby-size T-shirts, flippy plaid skirts, and that ubiquitous moose monogram — those days of fashion missteps instantly call to mind the nauseating smell of “Fierce” as well. It’s like a bad psychology experiment.

The rumor has always been that A&F employees spray “Fierce” directly into the air conditioning system, but current employee and IU junior Kayla Woodruff quickly separates fact from fiction.

“It wasn’t exactly the air conditioning. There are little machines placed in every room in the store that automatically spray it every 30 to 45 minutes. There’s a little fan in them to blow it out, too,” Woodruff says. “And employees at the bigger stores have to spray directly onto the clothes with the actual bottle. It’s super annoying, and I can sometimes taste it. And I mean, it doesn’t wash out. If I’m working four to five hours a day every day, it doesn’t come out at all.”

So why is A&F so obsessive about their fragrance?

“I think it’s just a branding tactic,” Woodruff says. “I mean, people already know what it smells like. But I think it’s more to keep the smell out there so that people immediately think of A&F.”

Considering how many people seem to dislike the overwhelming scent, you’d think A&F would back off.

“When I work the front room, I see people’s reactions to it. It’s awful. When parents come in, they’re like, ‘Can we make this quick?’” she says. “The old A&F in College Mall still smells like it. I think it's a toy store now.”

Just like any fragrance, “Fierce” is meant to create a specific experience for the A&F demographic.

“It’s supposed to smell ‘all natural,’” Woodruff says. “A&F as a whole is supposed to be an all-natural look and feel, which is why they make us wear very neutral colors — usually gray, white, or navy shirts and dark denim.”

Nothing about A&F has ever seemed very “natural” to us, but maybe it was just the airbrushed posters of half-naked men on the walls and the hyper-noticeable perfume floating through the air.