On Monday of last week, the retail company American Apparel filed for bankruptcy after a long-standing financial crisis characterized by bad debt, negative publicity, and less than amazing sales. The bankruptcy filing follows a deal with lenders that will work on reducing the company's debt through a program that allows bondholders to swap their debt for shares in the company. This system of reducing debt will allow American Apparel to continue to operate its "sweatshop-free" founding intrinsic values as well as keep open all 130 United States stores and continue overseas manufacturing operations. The public response to this recent news has been varied, to say the least.
The company has a controversial history, due to their reputation for risque advertisements and products as well as the legal claims against the former CEO, Dov Charney. While known as an authority for made-in-America cool, American Apparel ads have been known to raise a few eyebrows and have even caused people to speak out against their supposedly raunchy and exploitative nature. The producer of items such as knee high socks, tennis skirts, lingerie, and skin-tight body suits, the company has a past of using exploitative photos of employees to advertise, as well as featuring porn actresses in some of their ads. Furthermore, the former CEO, Dov Charney, was fired after a series of controversies and several lawsuits making claims about his sexual harassment of female employees. Obviously, American Apparel is not new to being the subject of public dispute.
Despite all of the allegations against American Apparel, as a sales associate for the company myself, I really hope the company does not close its doors. As a New York City college student with a retail job, I am happy to say the company has always been fair to me, facilitated transfers, and has a competitive wage for the nature of the work. I was surprised to see that a guy I used to date in high school posted this Washington Post article on Facebook entailing that American Apparel does not sell clothes, but rather "costumes" for a "hipster theme party to which you have not been invited." Not only did this make me laugh, but I was flabbergasted. Whoever wrote this article sounds very bitter and perhaps has not been to an American Apparel store very recently. The clothes and the style may not be for everyone, but fashion itself isn't meant to be for everyone! Even I, as an associate, can't get behind every article of clothing the company produces. I don't look very good in the turtleneck bodysuit, so I didn't buy it, simple as that! Just because I don't like the style or how it looks on me, I would not say that the company should close because of it.
While people can say what they want about the exploitative nature of the ads, think about where you typically buy your clothes from. Most likely, it was not made in America. Furthermore, I think it's even safe to assume the majority of your wardrobe was made in a sweatshop in either China or India and imported here—which is exploitative of workers who are getting paid hardly anything for their work. American Apparel may not have a completely ethical history, but their values, I honestly think, are in the right place. The company supports the economy, champions worker's rights, and is not imported, which are all things that are extremely rare today. While bankruptcy is not intended to be an end for the company, I sincerely hope that American Apparel can last through this time and emerge a smarter, better, and stronger made-in-America retail supplier.
