The Abercrombie Age: Millennial Aspiration and the Promise of Consumer Culture

In the 1990s and 2000s, millennials were marketed the false promise that consumerism held the key to a brighter future, according to this astute treatise. Lascity (Communicating Fashion), a journalism professor at Southern Methodist University, argues that preppy clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch embodied the “privileged frivolity” that defined the era, implicitly indicating in its A&F Quarterly catalog-cum-magazine that adopting the company’s WASP-y aesthetic would bring shoppers happiness and wealth. Tracing how various films, TV shows, and other media inculcated this “cultural vibe,” Lascity suggests that 1995’s teen comedy Clueless promised “a makeover and shopping trip were the path to self-actualization,” and that the 2002 rom-com Sweet Home Alabama presents the ascent of protagonist Melanie Carmichael from “trailer trash” to high-society fashion designer as the result of her refined sartorial sense. This misplaced faith in the uplifting powers of consumerism was dispelled by the Great Recession, Lascity posits, contending that the financial downturn resulted in a more pessimistic cultural vibe reflective of the dismal outlook facing millennials, who are likely to end up the “first generation poorer than their parents.” Lascity’s penetrating cultural analysis takes stock of how commercialism distracted a generation from the need for political change until it was too late. It’s an unusually empathetic and rigorous inquiry into the plight of millennials. Photos. (Oct.)