Oh for goodness sake, it looks like American Apparel and its CEO Dov Charney have secured yet another injection of neon spandex-clad life. Even after facing a year (or so … more so than not) of public image and financial troubles, it seems there’s nothing that can sink the AA ship and its ever-creepy captain.
Dov Charney pleasures himself in front of a Jane reporter. The borderline-illegal creepiness starts (well, continues).
Gawker.com runs an exclusive story detailing the insane dress code required of AA employees (this is after they jump through the full-body photo requirement hoop to get hired). For example, ladies, watch what you put on your face. If you put anything on your face: “Makeup is to be kept to a minimal — please take this very seriously. Liquid eyeliner, pencil eyeliner and eyeshadow are advised against; mascara must look very natural (ie. [sic] should not be clumpy or a color that does not compliment your skin and haircolor [sic]). Blush must not be overdone — should not have glitter or sparkles. Liquid foundation is prohibited (undereye [sic] concealer is understandable if it looks natural — ie. [sic] not clumpy or caked on, must match your skin tone). Please do not use a shiny gloss on your lips; any lipcolor [sic] must be subtle.”
Take that, anyone who likes (needs — me) eyeliner.
Dov Charney releases his phone number to the public and actually picks up.
(NYMag.com, in the interest of comparative reporting, puts together a list of dress-code comparisons between AA and 10 other retailers.)
Dov Charney is hit with two sexual harassment lawsuits in one month. One of the suits names four former AA employees, three of which cannot disclose the nature of their cases, as they signed $1 million confidentiality agreements while employed with AA.
New York Times reporter Laura M. Holson writes about the case, “Gary E. Phelan, an employment law lawyer based in Westport, Conn., said that while it was common for employers to seek arbitration to settle disputes, asking someone like a store clerk to sign a confidentiality agreement was not routine. ‘That is a red flag,’ he said.
“‘Before this month, Mr. Charney had been sued at least four times since the mid-2000s, accused of creating what some women said was a sexually charged, hostile environment. Those suits were dismissed or settled,’ the company said.”
August 2011AA launches “The Next Big Thing” contest, a campaign where AmericanApparel.net visitors can vote on who they want to see as AA’s plus size model: “Think you are the Next BIG Thing? Calling curvy ladies everywhere! Our best-selling Disco Pant (and around 10 other sexy styles) are now available in size XL, for those of us who need a little extra wiggle room where it counts. We’re looking for fresh faces (and curvaceous bods) to fill these babies out. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be the next XLent model, send us photos of you and your junk to back it up. Just send us two recent photographs of yourself, one that clearly shows your face and one of your body. We’ll select a winner to be flown out to our Los Angeles headquarters to star in your own bootylicious photoshoot. Runners up will win an enviable assortment of our favorite new styles in XL! Show us what you’re workin’ with!”
The bigger story is, why did it take AA so long to make “plus” sizes? As NYMag.com so aptly points out, “…the average size of a woman in America is 12–14 (American Apparel’s XL is a size 12–14 equivalent, the website says).”
Dallas-based peformance artist Nancy Upton wins AA’s “The Next Big Thing” contest — after entering only to spoof the competition. AA is none too thrilled at her antics and, once crowned the winner, Upton is ousted (grrrrreat headline for anyone who needs it) from her top spot because, “while you were clearly the popular choice, we have decided to award the prizes to other contestants that we feel truly exemplify the idea of beauty inside and out, and whom we will be proud to have representing our company,” says AA Creative Director Iris Alonzo.
After winning (then losing) the contest, Upton writes about her reasons for entering in the first place on The Daily Beast, “That’s when I finally put my finger on why I couldn’t get this ‘contest’ out of my head: American Apparel was going to try to use one fat girl as a symbol of apology and acceptance to a demographic it had long insisted on ignoring, while simultaneously having that girl (and a thousand other girls) shill their products.”
Chief Business Development Officer Marty Staff leaves the brand, as does executive vice-president Adrian Kowalewski.
Acting President Tom Casey quits.
… Meanwhile, AA financials are quickly deteriorating, as the brand faces an investigation by the SEC …
The SEC lets AA off the hook and decides not to investigate further.
Crystal Financial and George Soros extend an $80 million line of credit and effectively rescue AA from (almost certain) financial ruin.
And that brings us to today, and the near future, where we’ll have to put up with legs-spread-wide models for at least a few more months. Or years. We’ll see how long the credit lasts. But, hey, a fool and his money — am I right?
In 1998, a chain-smoking, fiscally irresponsible technophobe named Carrie Bradshaw tip-toed her way into our lives, teetering on Manolo Blahniks and wearing a newsprint dress.
And we loved her! And Sex and the City. We still do, and with good reason. Though she spent a bucketload on clothes (envy!), she was always perfectly coiffed (except for the newsprint number. I am so, so against that outfit and wish it had not reappeared in the movie. It was a bad call, Patricia Field). Her amazingly rent-controlled UES apartment and weekly writing gig somehow kept her clad in designers. She didn’t have and didn’t want a cell phone, and today, probably would have trouble with the idea of Twitter and Facebook. And internet dating.
It also took us a few seasons to question her smoking habit, which now wouldn’t even be brought up during development.
The only aspect of 1998 Carrie Bradshaw that I see surviving the last 14 years is her style (except for, again, the newsprint dress. And maybe that questionable barn number she wore to the Hamptons and met Berger in.) And that was the point. But let’s say that the idea for SATC didn’t come up until yesterday, and it was exact same idea. Would we love her so much? Yes, we do know what current-day Carrie would be like, as any die-hard fan has sat through both movies. And I like to think that the SJP we see at awards shows and in the first rows of fashion week is, in part, a result of Carrie’s style. But that’s not the Carrie we fell in love with. Though, we did see 1998 Carrie resurface when current Carrie prickled at the thought of a TV in the bedroom.
So, my point is: Would 1998 Carrie even happen today? Let’s discuss.
She’s a technophobe: Carrie’s answer to online shopping: “No, no, shopping is my cardio.” And that was when online shopping was just becoming a thing; Facebook wasn’t even a fired neuron in Zuckerberg’s brain at that point.
She writes for print: Not anymore. Today, she’d have an online column and write it daily, not weekly. No, sorry, hourly. She’d be writing all day, every day. And it would be a blog on the paper’s website, not a full-blown column.
She lives in a crazy awesome UES brownstone on 72nd: Even writing daily, and even though her bedroom didn’t have a wall or a door, she would never, never afford that place on a blogger’s “salary.”
She smokes: Of course that wouldn’t be such an integral aspect of her character’s personality these days. But like most girls I know, she would probably be a social smoker. You know, the girls that have a random flavor of Camel’s at the bottoms of their purses, magically coming out outside the bar after a few martinis. Think about it. Because you’re probably one of them.
She drops stupid amounts of money on shoes: Though we all love this idea, in today’s economy, we would feel shame just looking at a pair of Louboutins through the window, much less 20. Though the episode when she realized she had spent on shoes what most couples spend on the down payment for a starter home was pretty on target, it didn’t stop her. Most of us would consider that a wake up call. If only.
So really, if 1998 Carrie popped onto our TV screens today, we’d probably stop watching after the first episode. Insert sexual innuendo/pun here.
I love Marc Jacobs. He’s just down for anything, including building a train and running it full-steam through the most prestigious art museum in the world. To explain further about the triumph that was the Louis Vuitton show at the Louvre last week, Louis Vuitton stylist Katie Grand told Grazia, “At first, we had tried to get a real train in to the Louvre, but it was too heavy so it had to be built. They started work about a month ago. We’d looked at great train films like Murder On The Orient Express, Some Like It Hot and Strangers On A Train for reference, and in the end, she was quite like the Orient Express.”
Cool, n’est pas?
These were my favorite looks from tonight’s Fashion Group International event, “Meet the Designer and the Muse.” And I did, indeed, meet so many designers and their muses. By far, my favorite outfit of the night way Katie May. Romantic and luxurious, I wanted to buy this dress and throw a party, just so I could have a place to wear it. Beautiful! I also enjoyed meeting Tara Macken from Hunger Games. Her simple, classic look was a perfect match for the evening. My other favorite designers of the night: Mike Vensel, SKINGRAFT and Maggie Barry.
wild pieces 