Renaissance Mag

(NEW YORK) Abercrombie & Fitch has plans to reinstate its racy and controversial A&F Quarterly magazine this spring, as early as April, The Daily has learned. For its second go-around, however, the magazine-catalog hybrid will debut and be available exclusively in London, where the American fashion brand opened its first international flagship at 7 Burlington Gardens in London last March in what formerly housed Jil Sander, steps from Savile Row.

Sam Shahid, who designed the magazine in its six-year run, is back at the helm as creative director. Shahid, of course, is perhaps best known for his Calvin Klein campaign featuring Brooke Shields and the proclamation, "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins." During that period, the quarterly was edited by Savas Abadsidis with a circulation of one to 1.2 million. It was printed on cougar vellum paper, unique for a catalog. It remains unclear whether any changes save for cosmetic have been made in preparation for its relaunch.

A&F Quarterly launched in Fall 1997 and featured college-centric articles and tips as well as photo essays by Bruce Weber depicting extremely fit and attractive models in erotic or homoerotic poses or scenarios wearing clothes with A&F logos displayed prominently. It was pulled from U.S. stores in December 2003 after numerous boycotts from religious organizations and women's rights groups alleging its sexually explicit nature, promotion of alcohol abuse, and other cultural concerns.

Shortly after removing the magazine from stores, the company replaced it with the less controversial A&F Magazine. At the time, company chief executive Mike Jeffries maintained that the Quarterly was pulled to make room for the introduction of a new fragrance--he went so far as to say he was "bored" with it.

It appears that Abercrombie executives took into account the magazine's previous fate in determining its foreseeable future. In Europe, the tolerance for less-regulated publications is higher, while the hunger for the Abercrombie brand is only on the rise. According to reports, Abercrombie's London store generated a volume of $280,000 in its first six hours of operation, prompting company executives to initiate a plan to open up to a dozen more units in Europe in the next five years.

Tom Lennox, an Abercrombie spokesman, was unavailable for immediate comment.
JIM SHI