![]() That same year, the Economist published an article on the company. All the while, the behind-the-scenes controversy that had been brewing would be making its way into the purview of the public. One of only a few clothing companies exporting “Made in the USA” products, it sold about $125 million of domestically manufactured clothing outside of America. This would become American Apparel’s aesthetic calling card of sorts.Ĭharney seemed unfazed by the influx of criticism that followed, calling the scandalous ads “fashionable” and “trendsetting.”īy 2007, American Apparel had become the largest T-shirt manufacturer in America. Nary was there a campaign in which a model was not splayed on a bed or the floor, in a provocative pose, with barely anything on. In another, a girl posed in a sheer bodysuit. ![]() A teen wearing just socks appeared in one ad. Yes, by this time American Apparel ad campaigns were thoroughly dominated by provocative young girls wearing next to nothing. clothing business,” as MarketWatch noted at the time, American Apparel had managed to take on larger competitors, such as the Gap, thanks to its branding-free garments and its edgy advertising. Still a “relatively new company in the U.S. In an attempt to find the “necessary financial foundation to give us the opportunity to realize our bigger dreams,” Charney announced in December 2006 that Endeavour Acquisition Corporation, a publicly traded investment company (that praises Charney as a revolutionary businessman) had bought American Apparel. ![]() The incident was, somehow, largely pushed under the rug. The most talked-about aspect of that Jane magazine article, however, was the part where writer Claudine Ko noted that Charney openly masturbated in front of her during their interview. It would become known for others things, too, as illustrated in a 2004 feature in Jane magazine, entitled, “Meet Your New Boss,” which detailed the brand’s real estate expansion plans, its choice of models, and Charney’s pattern of lusting after his young employees.Īs of the time of publication, around the same time that Charney was named an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, he had been in serious relationships with three of his underlings. The American Apparel name would become synonymous with unbranded and moderately priced t-shirts, sweatshirts, jeans, and undergarments. The budding company opened its first store in 2003, expanding to 143 stores in 11 countries by 2007, with garments and accessories for men, women and children lining its shelves. The ethos of quality (both in terms of the garments and the experience of its factory employees) and overt sexuality run to the core of company, dating back to its earliest days. After settling in Los Angeles in 1997, Charney began to make waves, challenging the labor standards of the local garment industry by paying higher wages (two times higher than the standard wage at times) and providing benefits for his laborers, all while touting his company’s mission of removing the widespread norm of exploitation from the garment manufacturing process.Īs of the start of the millennium, American Apparel was operating primarily as a wholesale business, selling ethically-manufactured blank t-shirts, and “related garments, such as panties” as it noted in an early marketing flyer, which included photos of scantily clad girls and Mr. ![]() To determine how a company with so much promise could come crashing down so very publicly and disastrously, we have to start at the beginning, in 1989, when Charney got his start selling t-shirts out of his dorm room at Tufts University near Boston, only to ultimately drop out before graduation to pursue the endeavor full time. The question is: How did a company that less than ten years ago was deemed one of the fastest growing companies in the United States, boasting a rate of growth of 440% over a three-year period at one point and annual revenues that topped $211 million, get to this point? The Making of an All-American Brand There were the scandalous advertising campaigns, for which the brand has become known there was the news of its early financial success and its staunch dedication to manufacturing in downtown Los Angeles among other things.įor much of the brand’s life, its racy ad campaigns received the vast majority of press coverage – at least until recently, but arguably even more noteworthy is the rise and subsequent fall of this affordable fashion empire, complete with the ouster of its founder and chief executive officer Dov Charney, a handful of ugly sexual harassment lawsuits, two Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, and its subsequent delisting from the New York Stock Exchange. Yet, within the past ten years, American Apparel has been in the news consistently for a variety of reasons. American Apparel was not necessarily destined for greatness when its founder – then just a college student named Dov Charney – had a business idea: he would sell t-shirts. ![]()
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