American Apparel, run by the absolutely insane Dov Charney, is in some hot water. The brand, which often uses its popularity to launch progressive political ad campaigns, is infamously “sweatshop free” and, as the label denotes, not outsourced at all. As you can imagine, it has become something of a popular trend, along with other similar retailers such as Urban Outfitters, which cater to the super-skinny-wannabe-political crowd.
The irony? A federal probe has revealed that 1,800 American Apparel employees are probably illegal immigrants of some sort. Another 200 are “suspect”. Whoops.
Look, I get what’s going on here. American Apparel has long since pushed the “Legalize LA” campaign- a campaign pushing for immigration reform, specifically to allow illegal immigrants in the US amnesty (or something- it’s never been entirely clear, from what I’ve seen of the ad campaign- the campaign is rather scarily empty of a take-home message other than complaining). This move is clearly an attempt on American Apparel’s part to just subvert the law and try to go forward with what they believe is correct- that is, that illegals should have the same rights as anyone else.
I’m not going to touch the issue of immigration here, but let me be entirely clear: just because you do not agree with a law does not mean you are given the right to break it. I may not like the fact that I have to drive under the speed limit, but I do so because that’s the law and I can be arrested by the government if I do not comply. It is wholly within my right to protest and complain all I like about the law, and if I lobby correctly I can get it changed, but while the law is in effect it is my responsibility as a citizen to obey the law. We should expect no less from a corporation.
I’m not really a massive fan of American Apparel, to be honest, as both a fashion writer and a political writer. On the former side, while some American Apparel stuff is phenomenal, I feel their brand has cheapened itself and made itself something of a joke in the last few years- while I certainly love their shirts/henleys/etc, I don’t ever see myself going much further than that. On the other, more political side, I don’t exactly see why a clothing company needs to involve itself with politics, especially from corporate funds. I may be too old fashioned, but I much prefer it when my clothing companies focus on clothing.
But in any case, it’s going to be funny to see how American Apparel reacts to possibly losing 1,800+ workers. I’d love to be present at that investors meeting.
Tags: american apparel, business, fashion, immigration, Politics
[...] his own CFO and holding creepy photo shoots in his basement involving nudity and young girls, on top of being caught hiring copious amounts of illegals, but he’s now decided to try to uphold the company image- by making store employees taking [...]