The De-Sexification Of American Apparel Isn’t Working
Photo: Courtesy of American Apparel.
The long, slow decline of the once-mighty American Apparel brand continues. Yesterday, the company announced that, after years of falling sales, it does not have enough money to cover operating costs for the next year, leaving its future in doubt if it can’t raise the necessary funds, or find new investors. At this point, it’s not a stretch to say we might be looking at an American Apparel-less future, and soon.
Earlier this year, it seemed like the brand might make a turnaround despite the sales slump. The brand fired its founder Dov Charney after an investigation into his (latest) allegations of sexual misconduct with employees. It named a new CEO, Paula Schneider, a no-nonsense apparel industry veteran who quickly went about overhauling AA’s internal code of ethics — which after years of Dov, badly needed doing. The brand even changed its controversial, frequently banned ads, with their queasy air of exploitation, and copious half (or fully) naked women — even going so far as to airbrush its underwear models into nipple and pube-free mannequins. The new look of AA was woman-owned, decidedly PG, and ready, finally, to put the focus on the clothes for once.
Here’s the thing, though. Shoppers, to their credit, have longer memories than the recent rebrand gives them credit for. For years, former AA employees were beating the drum about Dov’s misdeeds, while the company protected him. By the time they were ready to view him as more liability than asset, shoppers had already moved on. This writer, and many like me, refused to buy AA in protest of its sleazy, sexist ads and culture of exploitation.
The things wrong with American Apparel were common knowledge for 10 years by the time AA did something about it. In that time, style’s changed so much, and AA’s hipsterfied basics face stiff competition from similarly-priced upstarts like Uniqlo and Everlane, while trend-focused shoppers have ASOS, Nasty Gal, Forever 21, and Zara to choose from. AA’s niche is gone, just like consumers’ willingness to give it the benefit of the doubt.
So, barring a miracle, it might be time to say goodbye to AA. We’ll always remember the good times and the gold lamé. For those of you holdouts who still feel bullish about the brand, good news: You can now buy stock at the low, low price of 13 cents a share. That might be one of their last clearance sales ever.
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