SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		12 Months Ended
		Feb. 03, 2018 USD ($) voting_right / shares $ / shares shares	Jan. 28, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jan. 30, 2016 USD ($) shares
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Additional Time Period In Which Forecasted Transaction Is Not Expected To Occur		2 months
Maturity Period Of Cash Equivalents		3 months
Foreign currency translation and transactions:
Foreign currency transaction gain (loss), before tax		$ 7,000	$ 400	$ (1,500)
Revenue recognition
Operating income for gift card breakage		6,400	10,300	4,700
Stores and distribution expense
Handling costs		38,600	41,500	44,500
Other operating income, net
Insurance Recoveries				2,200
Proceeds from Legal Settlements			12,300
Advertising costs
Advertising expense		116,500	110,100	80,700
Leases
Fixed minimum (1)	[1]	373,457	408,575	404,836
Contingent		14,752	11,690	10,161
Deferred lease credits amortization		(22,149)	(24,557)	(28,619)
Total store rent expense		366,060	395,708	386,378
Buildings, equipment and other		9,752	5,772	3,849
Total rent expense		375,812	401,480	390,227
Lease Termination Fees		2,000	15,500	3,300
Leasehold financing obligations		50,653	46,397
Financing Interest Expense		$ 5,500	$ 5,700	$ 5,300
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment award Target Percentage of Equity Awards Earned		100.00%
Operating Lease Commitments Under Non-Cancelable Leases:
Fiscal 2018		$ 356,620
Fiscal 2019		286,485
Fiscal 2020		232,591
Fiscal 2021		178,218
Fiscal 2022		136,478
Thereafter		$ 327,817
Weighted Average Shares Outstanding:
Shares of Common Stock issued (in shares) | shares		103,300,000	103,300,000	103,300,000
Treasury shares (in shares) | shares		(34,909,000)	(35,422,000)	(34,420,000)
Weighted-Average - basic shares (in shares) | shares		68,391,000	67,878,000	68,880,000
Dilutive effect of share-based compensation awards (in shares) | shares		1,012,000	406,000	537,000
Weighted-Average - diluted shares (in shares) | shares		69,403,000	68,284,000	69,417,000
Anti-Dilutive shares (in shares) | shares	[2]	5,379,000	6,107,000	8,967,000
Maximum Remaining Maturity of Foreign Currency Derivatives		12 months
Direct-to-Consumer Operations [Member]
Stores and distribution expense
Shipping and handling costs		$ 150,700	$ 125,400	$ 115,000
Common Class A
Stockholders' equity
Common stock, shares authorized | shares		150,000,000	150,000,000
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Common stock, shares outstanding | shares		68,200,000	67,800,000
Common stock, voting rights per share | voting_right / shares		1
Common Class B [Member]
Stockholders' equity
Common stock, shares authorized | shares		106,400,000	106,400,000.0
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Common stock, shares outstanding | shares		0	0
Common stock, voting rights per share | voting_right / shares		3
Maximum [Member]
Leases
Committed Non-cancelable Leases with Remaining Terms, Number of Years		13 years
Building [Member]
Property and equipment
Useful life		30 years
Leasehold Improvements and Furniture and Fixtures [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Property and equipment
Useful life		3 years
Leasehold Improvements and Furniture and Fixtures [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Property and equipment
Useful life		15 years
Information Technology [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Property and equipment
Useful life		3 years
Information Technology [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Property and equipment
Useful life		7 years
Furniture and Fixtures [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Property and equipment
Useful life		3 years
Furniture and Fixtures [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Property and equipment
Useful life		15 years
Other Property and Equipment [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Property and equipment
Useful life		3 years
Other Property and Equipment [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Property and equipment
Useful life		20 years
Internal-use Software [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Property and equipment
Useful life		7 years
Performance-based Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Leases
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment award Target Percentage of Equity Awards Earned		0.00%
Performance-based Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Leases
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment award Target Percentage of Equity Awards Earned		200.00%

[1] Includes lease termination fees of $2.0 million, $15.5 million and $3.3 million for Fiscal 2017, Fiscal 2016 and Fiscal 2015, respectively. Fiscal 2015 includes a benefit of $1.6 million related to better than expected lease exit terms associated with the closure of the Gilly Hicks stand-alone stores.

[2] Reflects the total number of shares related to outstanding share-based compensation awards that have been excluded from the computation of net income per diluted share attributable to A&F because the impact would have been anti-dilutive.