Honolulu, HI, 96797
December 3, 2014
Hollister Co.
98-1005 Moanalua Rd
Honolulu, HI, 96701
Dear Hollister,
I've been a fan of your company since you first came to Hawaii. Your unique, attractive, and well-made clothes always keep me coming back for more. You keep my friends and I up to date with fashionable trends and have become one of our favorite stores to shop at.
However, Something I heard has led to me look at this store in a completely different way. Your appearance policy, this means that workers have to look a certain way in order to be hired or continue working there. Hollister only hires employees who they think rate 9 or 10 on looks. The manager would come in every few weeks and make sure all employees were up to par with their appearance. Each season the company sends out a style book on what workers are allowed to purchase. Not only is there a very small variety to pick from, they also has to be checked out by their managers and if they do not like the outfit picked they aren’t aloud to purchase them. The clothes they wear is just part of it, Workers are also not allowed to wear flip flops, nail polish, certain amount of makeup, and a minimum amount of jewelry.
In addition, Abercrombie and Fitch got sued from a Muslim teen because she was fired from its Hollister store for refusing to remove her head scarf on the job. Each time her district manager visited, she would be sent to the back of the room. She was constantly relegated to duties in the back, even though other workers on her team were allowed to roam around sale floors. Her manger expressed concern about her hijab and felt like it doesn't fit in with their look policy. Abercrombie’s CEO also stated that there company was only marketed toward “cool, good-looking people. We don't market to anyone other than that". Another teenager arrived for her first day at work at Hollister. She was wearing a Hollister tank, Hollister jeans, Hollister slippers, an outfit she believed followed the dress code. Until her manager saw her wearing a tiny sliver cross pendant on her necklace and had her remove the cross because it did not fit into the look policy. She was ashamed for taking her cross off, it was a symbol of her faith and she had to roll it up and shove it into her pocket just to live up to Hollister’s extremely discriminatory look policy.
I understand why promoting Hollister’s look is extremely important for the company. The store employees are representatives of a very big brand and you are trying to attract customers to shop here. But you should consider not making this appearance policy this strict. You should not hire someone just because of their looks; you should hire them because you know they want to work here or because they need the money. Workers should be able to wear decent clothing that they want to wear and shouldn't be asked to take religious items off. People feel hurt and mistreated when being judged off of what they wear or how they look. Many people enjoy shopping at Hollister, but if they knew about this ridiculous look policy they would also look at this company in a different way.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Malina
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