Abercrombie and glitz

A HUGE poster adorning the front of the former Habitat building in Dublin’s College Green in recent weeks distracted from the poor weather as its image of a perfectly toned and half-naked male torso turned heads.

Advertising the opening on Nov 1 of Abercrombie & Fitch’s first Irish store, across the street from the entrance to Trinity College, the rippling abs and pecs loomed large over D’Olier Street until the City Council ordered its removal over a planning permission row with the company. So already, long before it was due to opens its doors, the brand synonymous with American culture and gilded youth was creating controversy and buzz, adding to the mystique of a label that the vast majority of Irish parents know.

Having opened flagship stores in London, Copenhagen and Milan in recent years, as part of a phased European expansion, the company’s Dublin outlet, set to employ 300, comes partly as a result of Irish consumers’ devotion to its preppy products, which they bought on the internet and on shopping trips abroad. The ubiquity of the A&F logo on streets in Ireland over the past few years speaks volumes for its pulling power among its core demographic of teens and twentysomethings. The store, originally a banking hall dating back to the 1840s, set over three floors and renting for a rumoured €750,000 per annum for its pivotal location, is being refurbished in advance of its opening.