Jump to content

Dov Charney

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 63.119.128.130 (talk) at 17:31, 27 November 2007 (re-re-added Charney's parents info with another source.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Dov Charney (born January 31, 1969 in Montreal, Canada) is the founder and CEO of American Apparel ("AA"), a clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer. His father, Maurice Charney, is an architect, and his mother, Sylvia Safdie, an artist.[1] Both of his parents are of Jewish descent.[2][3]


Charney has earned recognition in the media for management decisions to pay a fair wage and refuse to outsource manufacturing, while maintaining profitability and rapid company growth.[4][5] However, the sexually charged imagery of his advertising, the presentation of American Apparel's models, and the lifestyle the brand represents have all been criticized. Charney has been compared to Hugh Hefner[6].

Success as clothing manufacturer

Charney spent his final year of high school at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, bringing back T-shirts to sell in Canada [7]. In 1987, he enrolled Tufts University in Medford Massachusetts, but dropped out of college to start his own T-shirt company.[8]

Moving to Columbia, South Carolina, Charney subcontracted production to local garment factories, selling shirts under the brand American Heavy. In 1996 the business failed due to rising costs and Charney filed for Chapter 11 reorganization[9].

In 1997, Charney relocated to Los Angeles and, entering into partnership with Sam Lim, a factory owner, founded American Apparel to manufacture T-shirts using a finer than usual weave of cotton,[citation needed] body-conforming material,[citation needed] no logo, and a variety of bright colors. In 2000, Charney was profiled by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker[10] and in a New York Times "Critical Shopper" column published in 2005, Alex Kuczynski wrote that American Apparel T-shirts "are as close to the platonic ideal of T-shirt as you can get."[11] The company opened its first retail stores in 2003, and has expanded quickly through 2007.

For a time, Charney promoted a branding strategy that spotlighted his treatment of workers as a selling point for the company's merchandise, promoting American Apparel's goods as "sweatshop free." He later downplayed this concept, focusing on quality and company management.[12] Charney speaks passionately about his management style, promoting the company's vertical integration to improve the company's response time to market demand and reduce costs.[13]

Advertising and Sexuality

Charney has taken a personal interest in his company's sexually-charged advertising compaigns. Many of the models are recruited by Charney and his colleagues on the street, or company stores; others are selected after sending their photos directly to Charney via the company website.[6] Many of the intimate ad photos have been shot in Charney's own apartment. A handful feature him in suggestive poses with the models.[citation needed] Rob Walker of The New York Times Magazine describes a "raw and vaguely decadent style" of the ads,[14] which are placed on blogs and other non-mainstream outlets such as free weekly newspapers, art and fashion journals, and other non-mainstream media such as Vice Magazine.[6]

Charney has also emphasized sexuality in his public persona, and within the company. For a The New Yorker profile, he took the writer to a local strip club to conduct T-shirt fittings using the dancers.[10] In a video posted on the company website, Charney walked across his factory floor modeling a pair of men's briefs for his employees[15]. In the context of an ongoing series of conversations about sexuality with Jane Magazine, Charney masturbated on a number of occasions in front of the writer and staged a sexual encounter with an American Apparel employee.[16][17][18].

The New York Times Magazine suggests that Charney is the contemporary equivalent of Hugh Hefner in the 1950s, in pushing against cultural norms to promote a kind of popular hedonism that sexualizes "the girl next door".[6][19] Charney claims the sexual openness is appropriate to the company's Generation Y demographic,[20][21] which he calls "Young Metropolitan Adults",[6] and the fashion business.[22] Charney's advertisements have been praised within the fashion and advertising industries[23][24] Adult entertainment trade magazine Adult Video News cited the American Apparel website[25] as "one of the finer softcore websites going."[26]

Criticism and Controversy

The Jane Magazine story set off a small firestorm of criticism, particularly in the blogosphere.[27] There were three subsequent lawsuits from former employees charging Charney with sexual harassment. [28]Two of the suits were settled out of court in 2005; the complaint of Mary Nelson, a former employee in American Apparel's sales department, remains pending as of 2007.[5]

Charney is also accused of conducting job interviews in his underwear and giving employees vibrators. [29]

In response to allegations of sexual harassment, American Apparel now requires all employees to sign a disclaimer acknowledging, among other things, the sexually-charged nature of its products and advertisements.[6]

Design Sensibility

Charney's aesthetic in fashion and décor is retro-seventies modernism.[6] He studies and annotates photographs and ads from magazines of that period for inspiration. Some items in the company's clothing line, such as nylon gym shorts and neon-colored women's leggings, explicitly reference the eighties.[6] Some American Apparel stores include enlarged stills from the 1979 film Roller Boogie. Charney speaks at length on how differing kinds of cotton and other textiles can be woven, and their effect when worn.[10] He hopes to apply his designs to automobiles, hotels, and other retail environments.[30]

Company Sale/IPO

In December 2006, Charney entered into an agreement to sell American Apparel for $360 million to the publicly listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Endeavor Acquisition.[31] Upon completion of the deal, Sam Lim's equity interest in American Apparel will have been bought out, and the resulting merged company will be a publicly traded entity known as American Apparel, Inc. Charney will remain majority shareholder of the new company, and hold the titles President and Chief Executive Officer for a minimum term of three years.[5] All employees of American Apparel will also be rewarded with 500 shares of stock in the new company.[5]

References

  1. ^ Jewish Journal, Unfashionable Crisis, 2005-07-29[1]
  2. ^ Inc.com's daily report on Dov Charney. September 2005[2]
  3. ^ Launch Box article and quotes from interview of Dov Charney 7/29/05 [3]
  4. ^ Joellen Perry (2004-05-16). "Made in America". U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved 2007-11-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b c d Endevour Aquisitions Corp. SEC Proxy Statement Schedule 14A, June 5, 2007
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h New York Times Magazine Jaime Wolf, "And You Thought Abercrombie & Fitch Was Pushing It?," April 23, 2006
  7. ^ Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin Lorraine S. Connelly, "Young Entrepreneurs," Spring 2007
  8. ^ Inc. Magazine Josh Dean, "Dov Charney, Like It or Not," September 2005
  9. ^ 20/20 Newsmagazine John Stossel and Glenn Silber, "Sexy Sweats Without the Sweatshop," ABC Television, December 2, 2005
  10. ^ a b c The New Yorker Malcolm Gladwell, "The Young Garmentos," April 24, 2000
  11. ^ New York Times Alex Kuczynski, "Part Cotton, Part Virtue, Part Come-on," June 2, 2005
  12. ^ Inc. Magazine Josh Dean, "Dov Charney, Like It or Not," September 2005
  13. ^ Newsweek Jennifer Ordoñez, "California Hustlin'," 6/26/06
  14. ^ The New York Times Magazine Rob Walker, "Conscience Undercover," 8/1/04
  15. ^ Dateline NBC Josh Mankiewicz, "Sexy Marketing or Sexual Harassment?", NBC Television 7/26/06
  16. ^ Claudine Ko, "Meet Your New Boss," Jane Magazine, June/July, 2004
  17. ^ 20/20 Newsmagazine John Stossel and Glenn Silber, "Sexy Sweats Without the Sweatshop," ABC Television, December 2, 2005
  18. ^ Jewlicious.com Dov Charney entry
  19. ^ New York Times Alex Kuczynski, "Part Cotton, Part Virtue, Part Come-on," June 2, 2005
  20. ^ McGill Daily Jon Meyer, "Man in His Carlsberg Years Leads Youth Revolution," November 22, 2004
  21. ^ Psfk.com Guy Brighton, 4C Interview with Dov Charney of American Apparel, June 15, 2005
  22. ^ Inc. Magazine Josh Dean, "Dov Charney, Like It or Not," September 2005
  23. ^ Los Angeles Fashion Awards 2005
  24. ^ Adage.com Simon Dumenco, "Media Guy Slips Into Coma; Are Print Ads To Blame," August 29, 2005
  25. ^ American Apparel Photo Gallery
  26. ^ Adult Video News "I See London, I See France," AVNOnline Column, February 1, 2006
  27. ^ Jewlicious.com Dov Charney entry
  28. ^ 20/20 Newsmagazine John Stossel and Glenn Silber, "Sexy Sweats Without the Sweatshop," ABC Television, December 2, 2005
  29. ^ Navarro, Mireya (July 10, 2005), The New York Times. His Way Meets a Highway Called Court
  30. ^ Charlie Rose Talk Show featuring Dov Charney
  31. ^ The Wall Street Journal Stephanie Kang, "American Apparel Seeks Growth Through An Unusual Deal," December 19, 2006
Wikiquote has quotations related to Dov Charney.
Stub icon

This biography about a Canadian businessperson is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon

This biographical article related to fashion is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dov_Charney&oldid=174168447"