“It’s most likely that the fall of AA is intertwined with the fall of hipsterdom.” prizewinning behind was rewarded with a trip to L.A. to have more sexual pictures taken for AA’s website and a $300 gift bag. Yay free thongs!
from American Apparel because of sexual harassment, it’s only because the sexual harassment is happening to our people and not the invisible women outside of our consciousness and concern.
sales have dropped by the millions and the company flirted with bankruptcy for most of this year, delaying Chapter 11 by reworking its $80 million loan agreement with Lion Capitol Investment firm for a fourth time.
It’s most likely that the fall of AA is intertwined with the fall of hipsterdom. I mean the lafth.com hispterdom, replete with neon spandex, non-prescription glasses and of course, American Apparel. What was really cool, now is not. Fortunately, no one hip wants to wear gold lamé to the THs anymore and even Charvney admits “hipster is dead.” But is this what consumers actually So, as social trends migrate towards a care about? Thousands of female less offensive aesthetic, it’s no surprise factory workers in Ciudad Juarez have to see shoppers do the same. been raped and murdered, but that doesn’t stop people from buying from Johnson&Johnson, who has a factory in And the proof is in the pudding, kids. the town and who is guilty of drawing in AA’s stock has gone from a high of large amounts of female migrant labor. If $16.80 in December of 2007 to a low people actually stopped buying clothes of 66 cents this calendar year. Their
But the stakes are set: if American Apparel doesn’t meet monthly revenue minimums set by Lion Capital in 2011, it’ll be bye bye tri-blend forever.
Maybe it’s the perverseness of the Dov Charney himself, who has had the pleasure of being sued for sexual harrasment quite a few times and admits to regularly referring to women as “sluts” or “cunts” in front of employees. The CEO is also known to masturbate in front of reporters and likes to orgasm upwards of four times a day.
And so, American Apparel is trying to rebrand themselves into prep. Afrika is out and Houndstooth is in. Will it save Charvney’s company? I don’t know, but I find it hard to imagine a world without American Apparel basics. I guess the companies predicament is kind of the opposite of the “If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?” It’s more, if everyone else started buying clothes from a great store, would you stop?
8 contrast.indd 8
12/1/10 3:57:54 PM