These Stars All Modeled For Abercrombie Before Making It Big

08/31/2024 10:31 AM

"We got to set and after two shots, the clothes came off."

In the early 2000s, the walls of clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch were lined with life-sized posters of some of the best looking models around -- who often weren't wearing very much clothing at all.

While many of the young models in the brand's iconic black and white photos were relatively unknown at the time, it turns out that a lot of them ended up becoming pretty famous! A decade or so later, there are quite a few celebs who say they all got their start as an Abercrombie model.

Here's what these stars had to say about modeling for Abercrombie…

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1. Channing Tatum

Before Channing Tatum made it big as an actor, he picked up gigs as a model. One of those jobs ended up being with Abercrombie. While most models stripped down for the photos, the photographer actually had Channing put on a chicken suit!

"I was actually one of the guys in the catalog," he told Interview. "I had to put on a chicken suit at one point. I was like a mascot. We were in a locker room, and there were a bunch of dudes with abs all the way down to their … whatever the hell -- their perineums? And then I was in the chicken suit standing next to them."

2. Jamie Dornan & Malin Ackerman

Jamie Dornan and Malin Ackerman teamed up for an Abercrombie ad while they were both working as models. Reflecting on the experience, Malin says there wasn't much clothing involved despite the brand being a clothing retailer. In fact, they were naked for most of the shoot!

"I don't really know what we were selling," she joked on Late Night With Seth Meyers. "We got to set and after two shots, the clothes came off. [The photographer] didn't want any clothes on us. … Needless to say, we got to know each other very well."

3. Jennifer Lawrence

As a teenager, Jennifer Lawrence was cast in an Abercrombie photoshoot. Looking back, she says the company wanted "real people" doing real things so they set the models up on the beach to play football. Unfortunately, Jennifer took the game a little too seriously -- and her photos ended up being unusable.

"All the other models are, like, playing football in a pretty way, but not me. [In] all of the photos, I've got a red face, [I'm] covered in sweat, my nostrils are flaring," she recalled on The Graham Norton Show. "At one point, a girl yelled, 'Just get her away from me.'"

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4. Taylor Swift

In 2004, Taylor Swift was an aspiring country music star who had just signed her first big deal with a manager and RCA Records. She appeared as a part of Abercrombie's rising stars campaign, posing with her guitar -- several years before she had even released her debut album.

5. Karlie Kloss

Before Karlie Kloss was on the cover of major magazines, she was an aspiring model for Abercrombie Kids. Back in 2007, Karlie shot a campaign alongside other young models by the brand's photographer Bruce Weber. As Karlie later rose to fame, she had the opportunity to work with Weber on many more occasions.

6. Lana Del Rey & Lindsay Lohan

Lana Del Rey appeared in a campaign for Abercrombie when she was just 13. She and her sister attended a local model recruiting session and ended up posing alongside Lindsay Lohan, who was on the rise to fame after starring in The Parent Trap. Looking back, Lana says she actually had mutual friends with Lindsay but tried to play it cool.

"We were very excited, because also Lindsay went to school with my cousins and at the time they were all in the same play, Cinderella," Lana told Harper's Bazaar. "So all I wanted to do was go up and tell her, 'You're in the school play with my cousin!' But I didn't, I played it cool, even at 13."

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7. Emma Roberts

Emma Roberts' career was just beginning in 2005 when she landed a gig as a model for Abercrombie. At the time, she was only 13 and had recently been cast in her first big role starring on Nickelodeon's Unfabulous. She posed for the brand's classic black and white photos just before the show premiered and was soon a household name to tweens around the world.

8. January Jones

Just before January Jones made it big on Mad Men, she was working as a model and landed a job with Abercrombie. She was even named one of their stars on the rise. Years later, she shared a snap from the photoshoot, joking about her awkward pose in the black and white pic.

"This is when I was an Abercrombie and Fitch model, and a pose I created called the 'gut-itch.' Probably sold several couple white tanks with that gut-itch pose. I try not to do it anymore, I can't handle the attention," January jokingly wrote on Instagram.

9. Kellan Lutz

Kellan Lutz began modeling when he was just 14 after a friend on his basketball team told him how much money he could make from just a day of shooting. He eventually landed an agent and went on to appear in many campaigns, including Abercrombie. When he moved to Los Angeles, he even worked as a greeter at the store.

"I got to do so many shoots with animals and see the world and that helped transition me to commercial acting. And, so, after I did [the] Abercrombie [catalog], I came out to LA, and they asked me to be a shirtless model," he told Elle. "I did the greeter thing. I didn't have to fold any clothes. I would just shoot rubber bands at customers who would walk by."

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10. Nikki Reed

Like her Twilight co-star, Nikki Reed was also a model for Abercrombie. In 2004, Nikki had just starred in Thirteen and was recruited to appear in a rising stars campaign for the brand. She modeled for famed photographer Bruce Weber, posing on a vintage motorcycle.

11. Penn Badgley

Before Penn Badgley was cast on Gossip Girl, he was an aspiring actor and model. He had appeared in some smaller roles in film and television when he was cast in an Abercrombie campaign. In 2005, Abercrombie featured him in an issue of A&F magazine and listed him as one of their stars on the rise.

12. Ashton Kutcher & Tom Welling

In 1998, Ashton Kutcher modeled for Abercrombie alongside some other stars on the rise. While looking back on an old photo, Ashton commented on his fit physique -- and the fact that he was posing right next to Tom Welling.

"You'll see a guy in the background. If you really look close, you might see Superman, 'cause that is Tom Welling and that is when I met Tom Welling for the first time before he moved to Los Angeles and stayed at my house," Ashton told Esquire.

Ashton also met January Jones on the same shoot and they went on to date for several years.