





There are few things more transportive than a good playlist. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, when certain songs blast into your ears, they have the power to take you back in time and space — even to the mall. That’s where the soundtrack of White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch takes us. These songs make viewers feel like they’re about to walk into the store and get hit with a healthy dose of Fierce.
Featuring bangers from the ’90s and early 2000s, White Hot doesn’t just relate the story of that era of Abercrombie & Fitch, it also evokes the sensory experience of shopping at the store. The blaring guitar opening of “My Own Worst Enemy” by Orange County rockers Lit conjures Fierce’s intense musk, the scent that once hung in the air of every A&F store. And Len’s summer-y hit “Steal My Sunshine” summons the specific feeling of struggling to select the ideal jean skirt and polo combo in a shop that’s so dark it’s hard to see your reflection in the mirror. Each song brings up a mix of emotions. They’ll make you smile, then throw your head back and groan. And they’ll definitely get stuck in your head.
While the soundtrack would have been at home on any of A&F’s in-store albums, it goes one step further than simply serving as a time machine. The nostalgia-inducing tunes also speak to the message that the brand was not-so-subtly selling at the time. Take Nada Surf’s ironic “Popular” from 1996, with lyrics like “being attractive is the most important thing there is” — a sentiment that White Hot reveals is one that would have been unironically endorsed by the A&F leadership of that era.
Since watching White Hot may just lead you to search out the music of your youth, we’ve compiled all the songs featured in the documentary. We hope you enjoy flipping on the following playlist and diving back into happy memories of shopping at the mall — even if they’re accompanied by the type of queasiness that has nothing to do with food-court free samples.




























































