Monday April 16, 2001

Abercrombie and Fitch Catalog

Getting back to nature ... au natural. Taking it all off before take-off. And talk about your beach bums!

No, these aren't the pages of a recent porn magazine. It's Abercrombie and Fitch, at it again with the catalogue that pushes clothing and some say the limits of good taste.

Sam Shahid, creative director behind the catalog, defends his controversial concept featuring buff bods in a seductive series of shots. He says, "The photographs are beautiful, there is nothing pornographic about it."

Of course, this is the same company whose last catalogue, featuring a same-sex kiss, outraged the Catholic Church. And there was the interview with X-rated actress Jenna Jameson opposite a story on a child prodigy. The kid's father flipped and even the porn star thought it was tasteless. She said, "If my 9-year-old son was put back to back with a porn star, I'd be pretty upset about it."

But controversy sure sells clothes. The catalogue has helped A&F hit the billion dollar sales mark! And apparently there's no shortage of models willing to pose for the provocative pages. Twenty-two-year-old Ryan Hansen is one of Fitch's fresh new faces. The University of Iowa football star, recently named People magazine's sexiest athlete, says he has no regrets about joining the A&F fraternity. He says, "Oh, definitely. Anything I get paid for is cool."