American Apparel, the largest clothing manufacturer in the US, has over 185 stores worldwide in Israel, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France, Sweden, Mexico, the UK and Canada and plans underway in Australia, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and China. Selling fashionable cotton knitwear to the hipsters, it’s a company you can love or hate but hardly stay indifferent to …
Founded in 1997 by clothing businessman, Dov Charney, American Apparel became big business when it subcontracted its sewing to Sam Lin and moved the factory to downtown LA. The year 2003 saw stores in LA, Montreal and New York garner almost $80 million dollars in sales. By 2005, it was on the list of fastest growing US companies; by the end of 2007, American Apparel had become a publicly-traded company, with Charney as its President, CEO and majority shareholder.
New store locations are often chosen based on what urban area might be revitalized. Looking for low-rent but high-traffic sites, and often subletting retail locations to other businesses, the outlets are quick to attract new restaurants, retailers and hotels to their chosen area. The company uses environmentally sound practices, increasing its use of organic cotton, installing a solar electric system on factory roofs, recycling its fabric scraps.
The company has been applauded for its progressive labor policies. “Sweatshop-free,” the company does not outsource its labor to any developing nations but bases all its manufacturing in LA, where factory workers earn an average of $10 (€ 6.50) an hour. The companies’ foreign employees do not receive the same hourly wage as their American counterparts, however American Apparel employees in China will earn US Federal minimum wage while those working for other companies earn about 40 cents (€0.25) an hour. Employees are also eligible to receive health care, subsidized lunches, bus passes, bicycles, free parking, proper lighting and ventilation, English and computer classes, and on-the-job massages. On May 1, 2002, American Apparel even shut down its factory to allow its workers, many of them immigrants, to participate in a pro-immigration rally in downtown LA, with Charney walking alongside.
It comes as no surprise that the waiting list for employment at American Apparel has over 2000 names on it. But this worker’s utopia ends where your sexual politics begin. Anyone who has seen an American Apparel ad cannot miss its sexually charged message. The models, often hand-picked by Charney, are featured in various states of undress and often, in poses reminiscent of 1970s porn. One ad shows ‘Melissa’ showering in her now see-through white T-shirt, another features a woman preparing to give a blowjob.
Charney is known for such behavior as walking around his factory floor wearing only briefs, using foul and demeaning language, and even engaging in oral sex with a female employee and masturbating in front of a reporter. American Apparel has been subject to four sexual harassment lawsuits, with three cases dismissed or settled and one appealed and remanded for arbitration. According to Charney, all his sexual relationships with employees have been consensual and the unconventional nature of his company’s culture is the secret to its success.
This article was published Wednesday, June 4, 2008.
