What luxury brand did Abercrombie & Fitch launch in 2004?

Abercrombie & Fitch launched the luxury-oriented brand Ruehl No.925 in 2004.

Ruehl was conceived as a more sophisticated sister brand aimed at postgraduates and young professionals, generally those between 22 and 35. It drew on a fictional Greenwich Village story and presented its stores as Manhattan townhouses, with brick façades, wrought-iron details, and rooms styled like a home. The brand sold apparel, leather goods, and lifestyle accessories.

The name itself came with an elaborate piece of invented history: advertising claimed that a German immigrant family named Ruehl had operated a leather-goods business at 925 Greenwich Street. That address was fictional; Greenwich Street does not extend to that number. A French bulldog called Trubble served as the brand’s signature emblem.

Ruehl opened its first stores in September 2004, but the concept struggled commercially. Abercrombie & Fitch announced in 2009 that it would close the brand, and Ruehl’s remaining operations ended in 2010. Hollister, Abercrombie Kids, and Gilly Hicks were separate A&F concepts, not the luxury brand launched in 2004.