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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Lifestyle
Alaina Demopoulos

‘People thought we liked being touched and grabbed’: a former Abercrombie model recalls brand’s dark days

photo of two topless men
Kai Braden, left: ‘People would grab me by the waist and pull me in, which felt weird.’ Photograph: Kai Braden

Something felt off about Kai Braden’s first day working retail at an Abercrombie & Fitch store in 2006. His bosses sat him down to watch an onboarding video, but instead of learning how to properly fold shirts or work the register, Braden watched a corporate-produced montage of young men romping through fields in various stages of undress.

“[It was] stock footage of shirtless guys with their jeans falling down so you could see a little bit of their butt,” Braden remembered. He struggled to understand how this would relate to his job. “I was like, ‘What does this have to do with anything?’”

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