At American Apparel’s peak, it was one of the most popular teen retail stores in the 2000s. Controversial CEO Dov Charney and sexual marketing made the brand, but that is also what led to its fall from grace. Will a new turnaround plan be enough for investors and consumers to get behind the retail brand?
“Dov Charney was way ahead of his time from the point of view of what he was doing right,” said Jan Rogers Kniffen, CEO of J. Rogers Kniffen WWE. “He was manufacturing in the U.S. He was taking on all the social issues. He was all about perfecting immigration, LGBT rights, not using models who were made up or airbrushed or anything.”
But he was also doing a lot of things wrong. Allegations of sexual harassment surfaced around Charney, and people started to wonder if American Apparel’s overtly sexualized image went too far. In 2014, the board of American Apparel ousted Charney.
CORRECTION (January 22, 2020): At 2.49, we stated American Apparel had about 60 stores and revenue of over $275 million. American Apparel had 103 stores and revenues of more than $210 million.
At 4:18, we stated American Apparel closed more stores than it opened in 2009. American Apparel started closing more stores than it opened, shrinking its footprint, in 2010.
At 2:15, we stated that American Apparel shifted manufacturing to Mexico. American Apparel experimented with manufacturing in Mexico after its products were produced in South Carolina and Los Angeles.
At 3:33, we stated same-store sales growth at American Apparel was 7% in 2006. It was 5%.
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The Rise And Fall Of American Apparel
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poor dov. just a guy with a vision
AA set SO many trends it’s ridiculous. They expanded too much too fast
I miss AA
‘Not using airbrushed models” 😂😂😂
I miss AA
O Bummer
I was obsessed with AA back in the day – real basics real good!
What made me look up this video is I keep seeing Los Angeles apparel and I'm wondering if that's another company that has something to do with American apparel or maybe that guy that originally owned it started that I don't know
Just bought an am appy hoodie. I got it from Los Angeles apparel. I guess it's an la appy
Sadge, 아메리칸어페럴.
I bought thousands of dollars of worth of these clothes for my business. People loved the shirts and I loved the colors…good times, but Dov sunk it. The irony is one of the biggest blah t shirt companies own it now-Gildan. I was always so proud that AA clothes were not Gildan….
we miss indie sleaze
They had the best tees and hoodies.
They should have took the 300 million dollar offer
american apparel shoulda lasted forever. always high quality, consistently really attractive products/designs. consistlent good store staff. and made they're stuff in America and paid they're staff decent. i always thought it was hilarious that the most hipster company at the time was more american than all the dickhead side of conservative america that tout american values and anti-hipster daisy boy rhetoric and none of their people made stuff in america. maybe trump shoulda got his maga hats made by american apparel
I see the easy jeans on amazon? has anyone bought those before, and are they the same quality?
Awful American clothes for arseholes. We do it better in Europe.
Eccentric, divisive, and unapologetic founder prevails through faith in himself to deliver something better than cheap crap in the marketplace. Delivering simplicity and superiority will always stand victorious. This is the Steve Jobs story all over again.
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Is it really worth doing "rise and falls" of fashion companies? The whole point of the industry is that styles, brands, and tastes go in vogue and then they go out.
Great Youtube Channel!
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lol – they took his brand away ….
This was the most pointless brand. Most products can be found at better prices in Walmart.
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WE PROVIDE LOAN / FUNDING FOR:
Interesting.
Viva Radio went along with American Apparel. The radio station is sorely missed.
in short, the debacle started when they were forced to fire the Mexicans and other inmigrants without work permits that run the efficient manufacturing process, and keep the productiont costs low while manufacturing in the US. Now the brand belongs to another company that manufactures everything in Latin America and overseas.
wow
I believe that the 'sexual' and 'racial slurs' were trumped up.
Something made you succeed in the past might become the reason of your future failure if you do not watch the environment carefully enough.
Never understood the hype everything was ugly and basic
Gildan t shirts are absolutely trash.
Honestly think I would love clothes more if it were made in the America and of high quality instead of being made in foreign countries for dirt cheap and low quality meaning you will have to buy other clothes again once the color fades spending more money
Didn’t know anyone who shopped there, but I definitely knew people who stole from there.
Robert Greene brought me here
I hated this store!
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