Remember the lines from the song “Summer Girls” by the boy band LFO? “I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch,” the chorus went. But are the girls still wearing the famous brand? From ‘in’ thing to ‘teeny-bopping train wreck’, it seems like the girls (and the boys) have tossed their A & Fs into the storage bin.

“Like the jeans hanging behind the navy shutter doors of every retail outlet, the Abercrombie brand looks worn out and I don’t see any chance of its problems being patched up,” Kristin Graham of Minyanville Media said.

The high-end clothing apparel company has been badly hit by the recession, with its net income in the third quarter dropping to $38.8 million in 2009 from $63.9million in 2008. Total company net sales for the same period also plummeted by 15 percent to $765.4 million.

Abercrombie was once a fixture not only in teen closets, but also in the halls of Wall Street. Upon seeing 66 percent gross margins, which was unheard of before in the retail industry, market watchers had extremely bullish forecasts on Abercrombie.

But the tables have turned now (which was sooner than expected), leaving Abercrombie’s strategy outdated. Some analysts think Abercrombie saw its top line dive because it sells more expensive items than its rivals.

Pressured by dropping clothes prices by competitors, Abercrombie eventually jumped into the “markdown bandwagon.” But Minyanville said the move hurt the company more than it helped it.

Abercrombie’s failure to keep up with fast-changing trends and selling similarly designed items helped cause its lagging performance.

“Abercrombie’s problem wasn’t that it was too late to the discount party. It was because its style has become irrelevant among today’s funky and more mature dressing youth.”

Citing the cases of rival brands Urban Outfitters, True Religion and J. Crew, high-end retailers can keep premium prices while sustaining their brand status if they offer “unique and funkier merchandise.”

“In tight times, however, consumers are more conservative with their purchases and carefully select items they find valuable,” Minyanville said, warning, “the weakest links will get weeded out” as the retail industry continue to shrink.

“Investors can follow the money on this stock. But consider yourself warned that this investment will prove a major fashion flop in the long run — it already is in the fashion world.” (Grace R)

Sources: Minyanville and Abercrombie