The Dark Side of the American Apparel Cult

The Dark Side of the American Apparel Cult

Welcome to MsMojo, and today were taking a closer look at clothing retailer American Apparel its meteoric rise and dramatic fall, the controversies surrounding its founder and the disturbing accounts from former employees.

Background of the Company

American Apparel may have seemed like it popped out of nowhere in the early 2000s. In reality however, the brands origins go back to the late 1980s when founder Dov Charney began selling T-shirts under that name while schooling at Tufts University. Over the next decade, Charney grew the brand mostly on his own, targeting young, trendy adults and promoting it with the slogan Ethically MadeSweatshop Free. This meant the clothes were manufactured in the U.S. by adult factory workers who earned well above minimum wage and worked under favorable conditions. On paper, this sounded great, and it gave the brand a progressive and appealing image that resonated with many young consumers. But as it turns out, the reality might not have been quite so picture perfect.

Dov Charney

As an entrepreneur, Dov Charney was dogged and keen-eyed, overseeing the operations of his company like a hawk. Although he headquartered the business in Los Angeles, the Canadian-born founder made a point of visiting all his stores, even those in South America and Europe. However, when it came to human resources, Charney operated less like a traditional executive and more like a cult figure. He seemed to view himself as a savior of American manufacturing on a mission to bring back jobs that had been lost to overseas sweatshops and offer workers livable wages without sacrificing profitability. It was no surprise then that many of his employees began to idolize him. To them, he was one of the few in the industry who truly prioritized people over profit.

Young, Inexperienced Corporate Employees

Unlike many young founders who surround themselves with far more experienced staff, Charney took the opposite approach. Many of his corporate employees were even younger than he was, often with little to no experience. Charneys hiring decisions focused more on the applicants look and attitude than whatever was on their resume. As a result, instead of having more seasoned professionals who could challenge or advise him, Charney built a team of loyal employees who felt indebted to him for jumpstarting their careers. Their youth made them more malleable, allowing Charney to shape their image with ease. He also indoctrinated them early on, giving new hires a welcome package that included a Leica camera, a Blackberry, a book called The 48 Laws of Power and a vibrator.

Attractive Pay, Long Work Hours

Although Charney provided excellent labor conditions for his factory workers, the same care didnt seem to extend to his corporate employees. Their attractive salaries and rapid promotions came at a hefty price: personal freedom. Staff at American Apparel were often forced to work grueling hours, sometimes for several days on end. One former employee interviewed in the Netflix documentary Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel recalled working such long shifts that the payroll staff didnt believe he was clocked in the entire time. Charney also reportedly rented company apartments where employees lived together, further blurring the line between work and personal life. This setup of drawing staff into a tightly-controlled environment and isolating them from outside connections was one of many practices that gave the company a concerning atmosphere.

Cult-Like Practices & Questionable Leadership

Charneys efforts to control and unify his staffs image went far beyond those in his immediate environment. Every Wednesday, he held global conference calls with representatives from every American Apparel store around the world. During these meetings, he would reportedly dictate how employees should dress, style their hair and wear makeup. He also had a practice of publicly ridiculing one person each week, labeling them the fool of the week. It was clear Charney was one of those founders who treated his employees like family, considering how much company business he conducted in his own home. Some employees even lived there full-time, including Jonny Makeup, who appears in the Netflix documentary. He described the house as a Playboy mansion for hipsters due to the endless parade of young women drifting through it.

Sexually Charged Nature of the Office

Over time, Charneys behavior became increasingly disturbing and sexually inappropriate. He would reportedly walk around the office in his underwear and was once filmed naked in a room with two female employees present. Charney also employed a group of young, attractive women, referred to in the office as Dovs Girls. He allegedly slept with them and later elevated them to positions of authority, encouraging them to intimidate other employees into doing his bidding. Charney was also said to have masturbated at work and even once received oral sex from an employee during a media interview. This hypersexualized behavior soon spread throughout the company, with staff engaging in sex openly at work. It reportedly also became normal for employees at American Apparel to sleep with their supervisors in exchange for promotions.

Controversial Commercials & Celebrity Clientele

The overly sexual vibe at the American Apparel office seemed to bleed into its advertising. The company routinely came under fire for its provocative campaigns, which featured models in various stages of nudity striking suggestive poses. At times, these models were styled to look underage, which resulted in at least one ad getting banned in the UK. But in this case, the bad publicity only served to amplify the brands visibility. Young people were enticed by the provocative ads, which sometimes featured adult entertainers, and were pulled in further to patronize the brand. The companys appeal was boosted even more by their long list of celebrity clients, including names like Britney Spears, Rihanna and Beyoncé.

The Great Recession & Financial Ruin

Throughout the early to mid 2000s, American Apparel expanded rapidly, outpacing many of its retail competitors, thanks to its incredible sales numbers. However, when the Great Recession hit in the late 2000s, consumer spending declined sharply and the brand felt the impact almost immediately. This problem was compounded by Charneys labor practices. An immigrant himself, Charney employed many undocumented immigrants as factory workers and consistently advocated for immigration reform. These efforts drew the attention of ICE who raided the American Apparel factory in 2009. As a result, Charney was forced to fire nearly 2,000 undocumented workers. The resulting drop in production, combined with the economic downturn, drove the company deep into debt.

Sexual Assault Allegations Against Dov Charney

Given Dov Charneys track record of alleged workplace misconduct, the sexual assault accusations that followed were not exactly shocking. The first wave of lawsuits hit in 2005, when three former employees accused him of sexual harassment in the office. In 2011, five additional ex-employees filed lawsuits alleging even more serious acts of sexual assault. Charney, of course, denied the allegations. Conveniently for him, his accusers had signed indemnity agreements when they were hired, prohibiting them from suing him or the company. As a result, he was shielded from any civil or criminal liability. As the allegations piled up and the controversy refused to die down, the board of American Apparel suspended Charney in June 2014, and officially dismissed him as CEO that December.

The Aftermath

Since his dismissal, Charney has remained active in the fashion industry. After claiming he was down to his last $100,000, he attempted to regain control of American Apparel by teaming up with a hedge fund to buy the companys stock. When that failed, he launched Los Angeles Apparel in 2016, hoping to replicate the success of American Apparel using the same strategies. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic created a shortage of face masks and medical gowns, the company began to pivot toward manufacturing medical supplies. However, Charney ignored early lockdown measures, leading to a COVID-19 outbreak at his factory that resulted in the loss of four lives. He later took a job at Kanye Wests Yeezy, where he reportedly printed the controversial White Lives Matter shirts. Following Wests antisemitic outbursts online, Charney appeared to distance himself from him.

Were you an American Apparel customer? What do you make of these disturbing revelations? Let us know in the comments below.