In case you haven’t been following it, American Apparel has been all over the news for the past couple days as they swirl dangerously around the financial toilet bowl. Gawker, which, with Jezebel, has basically made it their mission to drive Dov Charney out of business, has posted some leaks from the most recent weekly conference call between Charney and his store managers, which one tattler summed up thusly: “Nothing but Dov in complete denial and ranting about mannequins for about 40 minutes.” They were also passed a Facebook exchange between employees, who are apparently still being directed to recruit new cult members employees off the street:

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Can you imagine life without white-zippered hoodies and cheap metallic leggings? I’m not the biggest fan in theory, but I don’t think I want to see this company go. I never got on board the scandal train over their ads, and even if their stores are like the 7-11s of fashion, I will seriously miss having that rainbow of jersey basics to choose from. They may not be the perfect company, but where will we get our American-made (they may not be perfect working conditions, but at least they’re theoretically under the jurisdiction of our voting power as opposed to factories in China, Mexico, etc) manties/tights/bodysuits in every imaginable color without them? Not to mention: jobs for young creative people (don’t call them hipsters).

Marjorie Skinner is the Portland Mercury's Managing Editor, author of the weekly Sold Out column chronicling the area's independent fashion and retail industry, and a frequent contributor to the film and...

6 replies on “American Apparel May Be Teetering on The Brink of Bankruptcy, But They’re Still Looking for Hireable Dweebs”

  1. Yeah, I don’t care about their ad scandal either, or that Dov Charney is far too ugly to be as disgustingly lecherous as dozens of women with professional ties to his business have alleged time and time again that he is.

    So the owner is serial killer-level creepy. So what? AA has an awesome selection of well constructed undershirts and Tees that fit me so damn well. I better stock up next time I’m near the Crystal.

  2. They’ve been a very easy punchline over the years, but I own more than a few hoodies and tees that originated there. If they actually go bankrupt I’d kind of miss them.

    Can a non-creepy person with business acumen just buy them? That would be a really nice deus ex machina right about now.

  3. Julia Roberts looked sexy in little black shorts at the ‘Eat Pray Love’ premiere Tuesday

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    She hit the red carpet with Javier Bardem and some of the film’s other leading men, Based on the bestselling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, ‘Eat Pray Love’ finds Roberts as
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    ulia Roberts looked sexy in little black shorts at the ‘Eat Pray Love’ premiere Tuesday

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    night in New York. The actress wore a chic and simple suit by Stella McCartney and satin Roger Vivier heels.

  4. I will miss the AA advert on the back of the Mercury each week. All the new t-shirts I wear are AA. The hoodies and the t-shirts are their bread and butter and they moved into all this hard to sew stuff right before ICE got rid of 20% of their workers.

  5. 1) I can see them turning potential bankruptcy and negative publicity into just that, a publicity stunt and rising from this. Now that I want them to.

    2) My source says that Dov and the internal American Apparel believers *are* totally in denial, and just blaming the bad PR on disgruntled former employees.

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