American Apparel Inc. is a North American clothing manufacturer, designer, distributor, marketer and former retailer based in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Canadian businessman Dov Charney in 1989, the company is a vertically integrated company that ranks as one of North America's largest clothing manufacturers and marketers.
After losing money for six consecutive years, American Apparel filed for bankruptcy chapter 11 in the US on October 5, 2015 at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. It was reported that the brand later approved a plan with its creditors to convert $ 200 million of debt into equity, $ 90 million in debt financing and $ 70 million in new capital. The company officially dropped out of bankruptcy after its financial restructuring plan was received by the Bankruptcy Court in Delaware and became private property by creditors and bondholders, thus severing ties with all former shareholders as well as former CEO and founder Dov Charney. In January 2017, Gildan Activewear purchased US $ 88 million worth of intellectual property and other assets from Apparel America in a bankruptcy auction after the company filed for bankruptcy for the second time in November 2016.
In January 2017, American Apparel laid off 2,400 Southern California workers and started the process of closing down the company's factories and closing down 110 stores, using Chapter 7 tactics.
In mid-2017, American Apparel operates as an online retailer only and markets itself as "Ethically Made - Sweatshop Free," with the majority of its products being internationally made.
In January 2018, the company has an executive board composed entirely of women.
Video American Apparel
Company history
American clothing was founded in 1989 by Canadian Dov Charney.
In 1997, after various iterations, including the manufacturing period in South Carolina, the company moved to Los Angeles. Charney began sewing subcontracts with Sam Lim who, at the time, had a shop with 50 workers under the Interstate 10 Expressway in east LA. Months later the two became partners. In 2000, American Apparel moved to its current plant in downtown Los Angeles where it continued to grow primarily as a wholesale business, selling blank T-shirts to screenprinters, uniform companies and fashion brands. After his experience as a wholesale brand, the company moved into the retail market. The company ranks 308th in the 2005 list of the fastest-growing 500 companies in the United States, with growth and a three-year 440% revenue in 2005 of more than US $ 211 million.
In late 2006, American Apparel underwent a merger and was listed on the US Stock Exchange.
It is also one of several clothing companies that export "Made in the USA" goods and in 2007 sold about 125 million dollars of domestically made clothing outside the United States. The Company promotes labor policies that exclude the use of clothing produced in sweatshops. "
In 2010, auditors of American Apparel, Deloitte & amp; Touche, resigned after notifying the company that his financial statements for 2009 may not be reliable. The resignation led to an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.
In April 2011, American Apparel confirmed that they have earned $ 14.9 million in financing from a group of Canadian investors. Under the announced deal, American Apparel sold about 15.8 million shares of common stock at 90 cents a share to a group of investors led by Michael Serruya and Delavaco Capital. Investors also received warrants to buy as many as 27.4 million additional shares.
In April 2013, American Apparel issued a personal offer of $ 206 million in senior secured records. The funds are used to repay long-term credit facilities with high interest from Lion Capital and Crystal Financial.
In June 2014, the Board of Directors decided to remove the founder, chairman and CEO of American Apparel, Dov Charney, after allegations of inappropriate and inappropriate behavior towards employees. As a temporary chief executive during the permanent CEO's search, the corporate CFO John Luttrell was appointed. As co-chairman, the company appointed Allan Mayer and David Danziger. Charney, through his lawyer, claims that his overthrow is illegal and demands healing. Soon after, Lion Capital demanded a repayment of a $ 10 million loan four years earlier. Failure to repay the loan will trigger a failure on the $ 50 million credit line with Capital One Financial.
In December 2014, American Apparel announced the official cessation of CEO Dov Charney and the promotion of fashion executives Paula Schneider to that position.
In September 2015, American Apparel strives to avoid bankruptcy as it scrambles to raise money to repay $ 15.4 million of debt maturing in October 2015. It struggles to find funds as it prepares to report a series of blistering financial results in weeks upcoming.
The clothing retailer warned investors in August 2015 that they would not have enough money to "sustain operations over the next twelve months" that raises "substantial doubt that we can continue as survival". The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 5 October 2015. In January 2016, the brand rejected a $ 300 million takeover bid from Hagan Capital Group and Silver Creek. The investment companies are Dov Charney supporters. (2018) US retailers have overcome a well-publicized storm over the last three years, which includes the departure of founders and CEOs, Dov Charney, and mass redundancies, followed by massive protests by former workers. Now, after a reboot by its new owner, Gildan Activewear Inc., a Canadian-American manufacturer that buys the company for $ 88m.
Maps American Apparel
Branding and ads
American Apparel Design, create and print its own ads. The company is known for its provocative and controversial advertising campaign, largely an inspiration from CEO of the company Dov Charney. According to Adage, American Apparel advertisements 'telegraph brands' from person to person. Their print campaigns are widely regarded as the best in the industry. Ads that have been sexually charged have been criticized, but also praised for their honesty and lack of airbrushing.
According to CEO Dov Charney, the vision for the brand is "a heritage brand.It's like freedom, property, the pursuit of happiness for everyone around the world.That's my America." Regarding the company's image abroad, adviser Harry Parnass stated that the brand is about aspirations and that they "sell American dreams."
American Apparel pictures often feature subjects with defects, imperfections, and asymmetrical features highlighted and attached with brief and personal descriptions. Many models in American Clothes advertising are recruited by Charney and his colleagues on the street, or company stores; others are selected after sending their photos directly to the company's website.
The company has also used porn actors and glamor models in several of its ads including Lauren Phoenix, Charlotte Stokely, Sasha Gray, Euguenia Diyordiychuk and Faye Reagan. Adult Entertainment News magazine, Adults Video News, cites the American Apparel website as "one of the finer fine websites." Some other company ads, featuring nudity or a sexual theme, have been banned by various advertising authorities. In 2009, an American Apparel ad that appeared on VICE Magazine was banned in the UK, as the image "can be seen to symbolize models that look like children". American Apparel obeys this decision. American Apparel has also been criticized for its 2014 ad for a miniskirt, featuring a model that bends so that its underwear is exposed clearly. In 2013, the company released an ad in which the model lay in bed with its feet in the air without wearing pants. The company also released an ad in which the model featured in a series of photos focused on his crotch, where his face was not visible. The English Standard Ad Authority criticized ads for being "voyeuristic" and "vulnerable".
For a while, Charney used a branding strategy that highlights his treatment of workers, promoting American Apparel items as a "free sweatshop". In 2014, the company released controversial ads with topless models, and the words "Made in Bangladesh," on his chest, in an effort to draw attention to the company's fair work practices. In 2008, the company issued a series of political advertisements featuring a company logo calling the current immigration law the "apartheid system."
In 2005, the company was named the "Marketer of the Year" at the LA Fashion Awards for the first time. Women's Wear Daily published a survey in April 2007 from Outlaw Consulting, a creative research company that tracks the habits of children aged 21 to 27, who put American Apparel as the 8th most trusted brand front of clothing brand like H & amp; M and Levi's.
In 2007, Imp Kerr created a fake American Apparel advertising campaign in New York. This action lasted almost a year, until it was revealed that the fake ad was actually a Photoshop model. American Apparel puts up tribute ads on the back cover of Vice magazine that shows fake advertising compilations.
In January 2008, the Intelligence Group, a trend and market research firm, listed American Apparel as their second Top Top Trends brand, behind only Nike. In 2008, The Guardian named the American Apparel "Label of the Year".
From 2009 to 2014, photographers like Henrik Purienne and David Shama are working on a number of ad campaigns for American Clothing that define brand identity.
Billboard and Woody Allen's lawsuit
In 2007, American Apparel installed two billboards, one in New York and one in Los Angeles, featuring a picture of a rabbinic-dressed Woody Allen character from the Annie Hall film and Yiddish text, for a period. one week. According to Charney, billboards are an allusion and allegory that offends both scenes in film and similar controversy experienced by both individuals. Allen strongly objected to the use of this image and sued the company for $ 10 million. Allen testified to the December 2008 deposition that he considered the company's advertisements "untidy" and "childish".
Although the company said in early May 2008 that the billboard was intended "strictly as a social parody", there is much debate about whether an unfair American Clothing attorney will use Allen's private life, his affair with Soon-Yi Previn as their defense in the experiment. Charney claims that these rumors are completely false and that his speech is protected by the First Amendment. In May 2009, the case was settled by a $ 5 million US Clothing insurance operator, with the insurance company paying the bulk of the settlement. The deposit was for half of Allen's initial request. Dov Charney said that if it was up to him, he would continue the case and take him to court.
LAUNCH LA, Legisalkan Gay, and Pride
In addition to participating in various immigration protests, the company launched an advertising and advocacy campaign called "LA Legalization". The campaign features ads in national newspapers such as The New York Times as well as billboards, T-shirts, bus advertisements and posters. The Company also maintains the LA Legalization section of their website featuring news articles relating to immigration reforms, brands and information on the history of the matter.
After passing Prop 8 (which defines marriage in the state as one man and one woman) in California in November 2008, American Apparel launched the Gay Legalize campaign. This is similar to LA Legalize campaign, and T-shirts with "Legalize Gay" and "Repeal Prop 8" are printed on them in the same style as Legalize LA shirts sold by the company.
In June 2012, American Apparel partnered with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in releasing a new line of T-shirts to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. Fifteen percent of the net sales of T-shirts were donated to GLAAD. Isis King emulated this line, becoming the first transgender model of American Apparel. In the summer of 2013, American Apparel announced their desire for more "transexy" models.
In 2013, American Apparel was named one of "8 Pro-Gay Companies" TheStreet.com.
Canada
In an November 2010 commercial running on an alternative weekly Canada, the company described itself as "a majority-owned Canadian company, established and operated by Dov Charney, a Montrealer". The advertisement continues to say, "in the end, one of the important things that makes American Special Clothes is its Canadian heritage".
In pop culture
In 2010, Kanye West released her album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy . In this album, the song "Gorgeous" (feat Kid Cudi and Raekwon) contains the following lyrics: "I need more drinks and fewer lights, And that American Clothes girl wearing only tight pants".
The 2013 Capital Cities song "Farrah Fawcett Hair", featuring a verse in which AndrÃÆ'Â © 3000 lists a number of things that he values, ends up being "stuck in every night for a month by American Apparel ad girls". The song is a source of parody by Willam Belli, Courtney Act, and Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 entitled "American Apparel Ad Girls".
In February 2014, band 5 Seconds of Summer released their hit single "She Looks So Perfect", which included the following lyrics: "You look so perfect standing there in my American Apparel outfit."
Corporate culture and work
The American Apparel production system concentrates most of its employees in one location. By not outsourcing, Charney believes that he knows his workers better and that it binds them directly with the brand. A banner over a downtown factory states "American Clothes is an Industrial Revolution."
Charney has stated that American Clothing hires its creativity with their culture and fashion sense, not their resume. Instead, the company has also been accused of focusing on personal style and outward appearance in hiring practices for retail positions. According to Charney, an unusual corporate culture in American Apparel is responsible for creativity and rapid company growth. He stated that companies are open about their sexuality and culture because "young people love honesty."
The company has been criticized for its unconventional corporate culture. Charney claimed to have slept with employees, and reportedly masturbated several times and had oral sex done to him by an employee during a series of interviews with an author for Jane's magazine.
Sex sexual harassment lawsuits
American clothing has been subject to seven sexual harassment lawsuits, although to date, they have all been dismissed, "disposed," submitted to arbitration, or in one case, settled but with "no monetary obligations to the company." In one prominent case, the company was prosecuted by four former models for sexual harassment - including a separately named plaintiff who sued the company for $ 250 million - in a lawsuit involving nude photos together, sexual text messages, and money requests. The company was accused of being responsible for this leak in a later suit. However, the case was rejected by a New York City judge in 2012. In other cases, American Clothes was reprimanded in the opinion by the Second Appeals District for settlement in which the plaintiff confessed that he was not sexually abused and American Clothing tried to issue a press release stating the arbitration hearing which never really happened. In 2013, only one case, "class action [lawsuit] on behalf of all female employees" that does not contain "specific allegations against Charney," remains active. In response to lawsuits, American Apparel has claimed that lawsuits are excessive attempts to "shake the company," and have run ads that say so. Charney has defended his innocence in all lawsuits, told CNBC that "the allegation that I am acting inappropriately any time is entirely fictional." The board of directors chose to expose its position as chairman in June 2014 and dismiss him as CEO. Charney responded with legal action trying to maintain his position.
In December 2014, Dov Charney was dismissed as Chief Executive Officer after several months of suspension. He will be replaced by Paula Schneider, president of ESP Group Ltd, a brand company such as English Laundry, on 5 January 2015.
Labor
In 2008, the company employs over 10,000 people and operates more than 200 retail locations in 20 countries. The company pays its manufacturing employees an average of $ 12 per hour. According to the San Francisco Chronicle the average factory worker in the company earns $ 80-120 per day, or about $ 500 per week compared to $ 30-40 made daily in most other garment-based factories in Los Angeles. Employees also receive benefits such as paid leave, health care, company subsidized lunches, bus tickets, free English as additional language classes, on-site massage therapists, free bicycles and on-site bicycle mechanics, free parking in addition to proper lighting and ventilation. Each factory floor includes a free phone where workers can make and receive long distance phone calls. Company employees abroad do not receive the same hourly wage as their Los Angeles counterparts. However, employees in China will get US Federal minimum wage. After going public, the company offers employees as much as $ 40 million in stock. The plan gives employees about 1 share for every workday they spend in the company. Approximately 4,000 employees of the company are eligible for the program. In previous years the waiting list for jobs in American Apparel has had more than 2,000 names on it. The company now but actively seeks staff after an investigation by US immigration finds that 1,500 workers have no legal immigration documents and are then dismissed.
New York Times reporter Rob Walker writes about the controversy in his book Buying and reveals that since the union drive, the Sweat X company, held as an example for what American Clothing should be, since out of business. He quoted Charney by saying more explicitly that "[Sweat X]... failed."
The difference between American Apparel and Sweat X is the subject of the 2010 No Sweat documentary.
Immigration issues
Since 2001, American Apparel has been a vocal advocate for reform of US immigration laws. On May 1, 2002, American Apparel closed its factory to allow company workers, many of them immigrants, to participate in a pro-immigration rally in downtown Los Angeles. Dov Charney, a Canadian, also lined up next to the workers. American Apparel participates annually on May 1, March Immigration and General Meeting in downtown Los Angeles. In 2008, they added a route from their factory that eventually connected with other supporters near the town hall. Company politics eventually broken down into LA Legal advertising campaigns.
In 2009, the ICE audit of the American Apparel employment record found a mismatch in the documentation of about 25% of company workers, implying that they were undocumented immigrants. About 1,500 workers were released in September of that year as a result. American Apparel responds with questions about the effectiveness of such actions and says "[dismissal] will not help the economy, will not make us safer no matter how we choose to define or label them [illegal immigrants] and pay taxes. " The ICE audit highlights a new strategy from President Obama announcing that they are shifting from high profile attacks. According to CEO Dov Charney, American Apparel promises workers who are dismissed for improper immigration documentation that they will be given "priority treatment, in terms of being interviewed for future positions with the company," if and when they "get immigration [them] papers in order. "Commenting on the loss of 1,500 workers due to concerns over illegal immigration Charney said," It broke our efficiency and caused a situation where we were late delivering clothing, which lost us a lot of money.
Environmental policy
The company relies on environmentally friendly practices and is known for its innovation in sustainability due to vertical integration. The American Apparel manufacturing system is designed with the concept of "Creative Reuse" - which transforms the excess fabric from one garment into several additional clothing such as a swimsuit, belt, headband, ribbon, bra, underwear and children's clothing. This unwanted material reduces the number of fabrics the company needs to produce in addition to expanding its product line and saving about 30,000 pounds of cotton per week.
American Apparel maintains a bicycle lending program for its employees and according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, it is a vegan-friendly clothing company. In 2007 the company plans to increase the use of organic cotton in the next four years from more than 20% to 80%. American Apparel also sells a series of shirts under the "Sustainable" label which is 100% USDA organic cotton. In 2008, American Apparel bought over 30,000 pounds of organic cotton known as cotton B.A.S.I.C.
American Apparel installed a 146-kilowatt solar power system on the roof of its plant, designed to reduce electricity costs by at least 20%. This panel is powered up to 30% of the factory.
Philanthropy
In 2005, the company hosted a washing car wash merit with the American Red Cross to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. In addition, they packed and sent 80,000 shirts for relief efforts in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. In charge of Agricultural Assistance, American Apparel donated an empty shirt printed and sold by the organization as merchandise. In 2007, just before Christmas, American Apparel donated more than 300,000 articles of clothing, with a giveaway specifically targeting homeless populations in big cities. In 2009, the company had sales of its "Justice for Immigrants" factory in Los Angeles - a result benefiting organizations such as the Libre Imajran Casa Children's Homeless Youth Site, the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, the Coalition for Los Angeles Human Rights Immigration, Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, and the National Work Day Organizer Network.
American Apparel also donated clothes worth more than $ 400,000 to Haitian earthquake victims through Fashion Delivers as well as over 5,000 pairs of socks to the Soles4Souls charity.
Criticism
American outfits were criticized in October 2013 for an 'insensitive cultural display' in one of its New York stores. The screen uses imagery associated with traditional African and Afro-American religions. This sparked outrage among some practitioners of these different religions, including Haitian Vodou, Louisiana Voodoo, Vodun West Africa, Cuba Santeria, and others.
See also
- Los Angeles Portal
- Corporate portal
References
External links
- Official website
- Better Business Bureau Report
- In American Clothes: Tour to Downtown LA Factory
- Strasburg, Jenny (July 4, 2004). "Made in USA". Profile . SF Gate. Archived from original in 2004.
- "Sexy Sweats Without the Sweatshop". 20/20 . ABC News.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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