Clothing Brand American Apparel in Trouble
American Apparel had a meteoric rise as a brand. Known for using cotton that was grown and manufactured in America, rather than cheaper labour and materials in countries such as China. It was seen as ethical, hip and all American. Their shops are filled with plain, but colourful youth-oriented garments and rather like the coffee shop chain Starbucks, it became a familiar feature of high streets around the world.Now it seems that the fortunes of the company are on the wane. For years the company has been repeatedly criticised for the sexually provocative nature of its advertising. More worryingly there have also been accusations of sexual harassment against Dov Charney, the founder of the company which have ended up in court. Not only that, but the company is now facing bankruptcy and is currently battling to keep their investors on-board and to extend repayment dates. Comments made to the Independent newspaper by a Wall Street analyst made it clear that investors were worried about how the company is being run and the impact of the company policies on its ability to turn a profit. And now, American Apparel’s hiring policies are the latest problem that the company is dealing with. Their ‘ethical’ manufacturing of their products in Los Angeles is at odds with the manner in which they treat their staff and would-be staff members.
One would not expect shop assistants with a perfect resume to lose out on a job opportunity simply because of their looks, but this is now the accusation that the clothing company faces. Employees have written detailed complaints and accounts of the problems they have with American Apparel’s staffing policies on a blog based in New York. Combine this discriminatory staffing policy with the bad aftertaste of repeated claims of sexual harassment and the use of very young girls in sexually provocative poses and you will end up with consumers shopping elsewhere, not wanting to support a company that is increasingly getting more and more bad press.
The hiring and firing policies of this clothing company seem more like model castings, with qualified people being overlooked, solely based on their looks. It is alleged that if they do not fit Charney’s idea of the ideal American Apparel representative, they are not hired. Not only do American Apparel workers claim that potential employees faced discrimination against them, but existing staff members were also monitored for what they were wearing, their weight, what makeup could be worn - even the size of their eyebrows were all up for scrutiny by the company. American Apparel has not issued a full denial on these accusations, merely saying that they want full figure shots of potential employees to see if they have a personal style which would show that they understand how to be fashionable.
However, on the blog in which many American Apparel employees complained and continue to do so, managers mentioned that they were not only doing their own job but a number of other jobs because executives would not agree to the hiring of suitable employees, or insisting that managers they hire people who looked good, but who were, however, not qualified for the job, leaving managers overworked, stressed out and unable to run their stores efficiently.
A once familiar name in malls and on high streets, American Apparel signs may soon start to slowly disappear. This fashion brand that seemed so promising, is now desperately trying to avoid bankruptcy and turn itself into a profitable venture. However, even if investors cut the company some slack, unless it reorganises how it runs its business and treats its staff it will be replaced by the many, hungry, up and coming clothing brands who are only too willing to take its place.
