It's not just 1990s styles that are making a comeback: so is one of the biggest brands of the decade.
Abercrombie & Fitch appears on track to achieve its first two consecutive years of double-digit sales growth in more than a decade.
The company, which also owns Hollister, told investors it expects sales to be 10% higher this year than in 2023.
This is nearly double the previous forecast and follows a 16% increase last year.
After garnering a teen following in the '90s and gaining notoriety for its shirtless models, the company now caters to grown-up customers with wedding dresses, work clothes and wide-leg baggy jeans.
It has also taken a more holistic approach and introduced a range of measures, including multi-scale hiring, which former chief executive Mike Jeffries once suggested could be implemented. Famous Declaration “Many people don't dress appropriately for the company.”
Abercrombie in 2004 agreed to pay $50 million (£39 million) to settle claims that its hiring practices were discriminatory against ethnic minorities and women.
Jeffries also faced allegations that he sexually exploited and abused men at events he hosted around the world, and that he ran a human trafficking ring, charges he denies.
Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData, said Abercrombie had successfully reinvented itself since Jefferies stepped down as head of the company in 2014 and few of the debts from that time seemed to remain.
The turnaround has seen shares in the company, which has more than 750 stores worldwide, soar from around $25 (£19) a share at the start of 2023 to more than $189 (£147) on Thursday.
“I've never seen a brand bounce back so quickly,” said Jonah Lupton, CEO of Lupton Capital. wrote on social mediaHe pointed out that it is on the rise.
While spaghetti straps, bucket hats, and platform shoes that were popular in the '90s are making a comeback in fashion, Abercrombie's products aren't a repeat of that decade.
Instead, Sanders said the company's product line, which is less sexy and less logo-heavy than its '90s counterparts, is resonating with millennial customers who want something fresh without chasing the latest “edgy” fashion.
He said Abercrombie's successful turnaround was unusual in retail.
“It's very unusual for a company like Abercrombie & Fitch, with a direction and an image rooted in the '90s, to do a complete 180-degree turn and emerge as a very modern, successful and different brand,” he said. “That doesn't happen very often.”
The company said sales in the February-April period rose 22% on a year earlier to $1 billion (£787 million), a new quarterly record.
Growth was broad-based, with sales up 23 percent in the Americas and up 19 percent in Europe, led by the UK and Germany.
Current Abercrombie President Fran Horowitz, who became CEO in 2017, said 2023 will be a defining year for the company as efforts to modernize its data and digital capabilities pay off.
“We entered 2024 with momentum,” she told analysts on a conference call to discuss quarterly results.
“Our first quarter results are further evidence that we're off to a strong start.”
The stock rose more than 20% after the report, despite Chief Financial Officer Scott Lipesky warning that “there is still a lot of uncertainty” about the economy.
He said the company's sales could slow later this year.
Saunders said that while growth is expected to slow after the upswing in 2023, the company is still outperforming the overall market and has opportunities for overseas growth in countries such as the UK.
Horowitz highlighted that outlook in his quarterly report and noted his recent visit to London.
“We're really excited to see the opportunity there,” she said.