AMERICAN APPAREL// WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG? //
American Apparel’s inability to change and adapt along with its customer base has been noted both by the press as well as the company itself as a huge contributing factor to the downturn in fortunes for the company with Dov Charney declaring that their predominant target market, the hipster, is now dead. However, until recently, the company had continued with the aesthetic that first brought them to prominence including the basic garments as well as the highly sexed spandex and lame bodysuits and leggings. Whilst its desired customer base has moved on in recent years, the company ignoring such a shift in consumers’ taste has seen a decline in the once hipster elite credibility of the brand image. Recently, the company has addressed this problem by shifting the aesthetic of American Apparel away from trashy 80’s to a more grown up, preppy college image however, this last ditch attempt at remaining relevant to their customer base may be too little, too late for the company.
What is there to say about Dov Charney? Whilst his tenacity and innovativeness in growing the company from selling t-shirts from his dorm room to a Global, publicly traded company has to be admired, the ever increasing number of rumours and employee testimonials about him really does not paint him as a good, morally upstanding kind of guy. Maybe it is just me but Charney admitting that he refers to women and, in particular, models in his advertisements as ‘sluts’ really doesn’t make me want to give my hard earned cash to him and his company.
Finally, from reading reactions to the latest news about American Apparel it would appear that a lot of potential American Apparel consumers are just not willing to pay £24 for a basic t-shirt. Now that the buzz and hype surrounding the company has died down and it has, arguably, lost a good amount of the hipster elite status it once had, it may solely come down to the fact that people have nothing particularly desirable to buy into to justify the price of their garments.
Let’s open this up to everyone. What do you guys reckon has caused American Apparel to lose its appeal and to find itself in dire straits again? What do you think about their ethics? Do you still shop in American Apparel?
Regards,
Cam xx