LAFW: Vilorija
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LAFW: Betsey Johnson
People with Money: Please Stop Saving American Apparel
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.
2004
Dov Charney pleasures himself in front of a Jane reporter. The borderline-illegal creepiness starts (well, continues).
June 2010
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.)
March 2011
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 2011
AA 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).”
September 2011
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.”
October 2011
Chief Business Development Officer Marty Staff leaves the brand, as does executive vice-president Adrian Kowalewski.
November 2011
Acting President Tom Casey quits.
… Meanwhile, AA financials are quickly deteriorating, as the brand faces an investigation by the SEC …
January 2012
The SEC lets AA off the hook and decides not to investigate further.
March 2012
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?
Would 1998 Carrie Bradshaw Be So Loved Today?
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.
Best of the Night: FGI’s “Meet the Designer and the Muse”
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.
Fashion Frenzy at W Hollywood
I learned a few surprising lessons yesterday that, normally, wouldn’t be surprising. But before we get into it, lets talk about Los Angeles. It’s the nature of the beast (the beast being the industry that defines this town and everyone in it) to put its willing enablers to the test. For every person who is fighting and clawing their way to the top, there are a hundred more who couldn’t get there and gave up.
Though this breeds talent and ambition, it also tends to breed cattiness and pessimism. And, more often than not, disappointment.
But after talking to a panel of industry experts at the SimplyStylist.com Seminar who have seen the sunny side of success, the crowd of stylists, editors and designers — myself included — learned that success comes not from back stabbing and bitchiness, but kindness and hard work. Those were the words that were spoken by every panelist, which included (left to right): Brenna Egan, Refinery29.com Los Angeles Editor and former Vogue staffer; Jamie Krell, E! and Style Network Style Expert; Alexis and Kym McClay, Naven Designers; Jeanne Yang, Celebrity Stylist, who also collaborates with Katie Holmes on their clothing line, Holmes & Yang; and Shea Marie, CheyenneMeetsChanel.com Fashion Blogger.
Hosted by Catt Sadler, E! News Host, the panel was held at the W Hotel in Hollywood, where the attendees were whipped into a fashion frenzy. After the seminar, we were let loose on the shopping boutiques in the next room. Forgive me for not taking more pictures (It’s time I got an iPhone, my Blackberry just isn’t working well for photos), because we were treated to a bar, DJ, photo booth and the hottest up-and-coming designers in Los Angeles. Jammy pack, anyone? No?
Anyway, I especially loved speaking with Jeanne and Brenna (both of whom I STILL can’t believe I actually met — they’re amazing!).
While building her business, Jeanne worked 120-hour weeks for three years straight. Just, take a moment to think about the dedication that requires. That’s 17.14 hours PER DAY. Her advice (directly to me! ah!) was that anytime someone gives you a negative, as she traced a small minus sign with her finger, “just turn it into a positive and give it right back to them.” She finished by tracing another line to make a literal positive sign. Her message was, always always be kind and grateful, no matter the circumstances, no matter how rude some people may be. Even if a Vanity Fair editor takes the credit for your work styling the biggest selling issue of the magazine ever (You know it — you probably had it, it was the Tom-and-Katie-present-Suri-to-the-world cover).
To continue what I will now call the inspire-a-thon, I also got to chat with Brenna. Before starting at Refinery29.com three months ago, she had previously worked as the West Coast Editor for OK! Magazine. She was also once a Vogue staffer. (Side note: To get hired as an assistant, she sat through an 8-hour interview with “Anna and the team.” Vogue does not mess around.) Brenna meets seven deadlines per day to create the content for R29. Basically, she’s writing all the time. All. The. Time. So I asked what she does in the event she has writer’s block? For her, she says, “It’s not an option.” I love that. I love that! She has to meet her deadlines, so, she has to keep writing. And you know what? She does it so well.
So that was my day, and it made me so excited to be in Los Angeles, to be an editor and to love fashion, over and over again. Special thanks to Sarah Pollack Boyd and SimplyStylist.com for hosting the event. Is it too early to buy my ticket for next year?
wild pieces 