Netflix 2022 Doc ‘White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch’ Helped Propel Arrest of Retailer’s Former CEO Mike Jeffries

variety.com:

Addie Morfoot Contributor Two years after the release of the Netflix documentary expose “White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch,” the retail company’s former CEO Mike Jeffries was arrested last week on international sex trafficking charges for crimes that occurred while he was running the clothing retailer from 1992 to 2014.

The 88-minute film, directed by Alison Klayman, served as a building block to bring the clothing store’s condemnable past back into the zeitgeist and ultimately led to the BBC docuseries “World of Secrets: The Abercrombie Guys,” which further opened the doors for people to come forward about Jeffries’ alleged sexual misconduct. “Whenever you are making a documentary and report on something, it becomes a beacon,” says Klayman. “More people come out of the woodwork that were hard to find when making the film.

The number of incoming messages about Jeffries that the film team and I received in the wake of “White Hot” was a representation of all people who initially felt like a needle in a haystack to find.” “White Hot” premiered on Netflix on April 19, 2022, and overnight became one of the streamer’s top films to watch globally.

The docu explores the rise in popularity of Abercrombie & Fitch during the late ’90s and examines how, under Jeffries’ leadership, the store became known for its sexualized advertising and its emphasis on an “all-American” look that tended to feature white models.