Could things be looking up for American Apparel? The manufacturer, once the unofficial uniform of coeds the country over, has seen its image and its earnings crumble. Dov Charney — founder, alleged sexual harasser, popularizer of the Terry Richardson glasses-and-pornstache look — was suspended, brought back to the brand as a “strategic consultant,” then finally fired for good last December.
His replacement, new CEO Paula Schneider, is the first woman to hold that position in American Apparel’s history. She has the daunting task of resuscitating the brand. One of the first courses of action after Charney’s departure was the institution of a new sexual harassment policy; though Schneider hardly seems like the type to masturbate in front of a reporter, as Charney did in 2004, it’s never a bad idea to put those sort of guidelines in writing. And judging by a In a new interview with Marie Claire, Schneider’s tactic is straight out of the Don Draper playbook: she’s changing the conversation.
Schneider didn’t even address (nor, it appears, was she asked about) Charney’s sexual misconduct and how badly the brand was damaged by his persona and behavior. She kept the focus on American Apparel’s obligation to engage in “social commentary”:
This is an edgy brand, and we have to get past the idea that it’s just a clothing brand. It’s not. Our customers expect social commentary; they expect it to be a part of their lives. We’re an interesting company in that we are the largest manufacturer of apparel in North America. I don’t think people know that. And that comes with a call to action — if we want to keep jobs in the United States, we have to make our product relevant for people around the world.
She believes customers need to know “how we add value to the U.S. economy,” a smart move considering that modern, young consumers are more likely than ever to care about the roots of the goods and services they buy.
The hipster aesthetic that sent twenty-somethings to the stores in droves fell out of fashion, as all fashions do, and American Apparel was neither nimble nor quick enough to keep up with changing tastes. Not even the return of the crop top could revitalize sales: in 2012, American Apparel reported a net loss of $37.3 million; in 2013, $106.3 million. Last March, American Apparel was hemorrhaging money at such an astonishing rate, the company was at risk of getting delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
For years, American Apparel stood by and did nothing as the mainstream millennial’s interests shifted from irony, self-aware detachment and PBR to sincerity, authenticity and craft beer. It’s All Organic And Locally Grown Everything for the rising urbanites out there, and if American Apparel wants to maintain — or regain, depending on your view — its relevancy in the marketplace, the “made in the U.S.A.” tag is the right place to shine a light.
As Schneider pointed out, the latest American Apparel advertisements have stuck to that social awareness vein, though the most notable of those campaigns — the one starring Brendan Jordan, a 15-year-old whose vogueing went viral — was produced before Schneider was hired.
The brand “will have some sexy ads,” she said, but maybe the fact that American Apparel is trying to distance itself from Charney’s legacy means that we can expect fewer images of underage-looking girls in see-through leotards. Schneider did say that ads will star “all types of models” and referenced a new video featuring transgender models, young models, models in their 70s, women who were eight feet tall — we aim to be inclusive. It’s more a psychographic than a demographic that we look to.”
Update:
This post has been updated to more precisely describe the allegations against Dov Charney.