The Rise and Fall of American Apparel

Put on your flower crowns and don your skinniest jeans and join us at the center of the Millennial universe: Coachella 2007! 

Adam & Becca meet the personification of the turn of the century hipster entrepreneur, Dov Charney. Sitting atop a pile of v-neck t-shirts ethically made in the USA, Charney was somewhat of a renegade business oddity on wall-street. But for the 20-something dreamers that clamored for the brand’s clothing, he was a captivating revolutionary. Their devotion, along with a bevy of young corporate employees, easily exploited under the guise of “a greater purpose,” allowed American Apparel to rapidly expand and IPO in 2007. The stores were everywhere you wanted to be… until they weren’t. 

Eventually, abuse allegations coupled with financial mismanagement threatened Charney’s reign as king of t-shirt mountain. With the walls closing in on him, he spiraled out of control… taking the company he founded with him. 

CW: Sexual abuse 

Pics on substack

Links: 

Read Strip Tees: A Memoir of Millennial Los Angeles

Watch Big Rad Wolf 

The Young Garmentos (and the If Books Could Kill episode on Malcom Gladwell)

Meet Your New Boss 

Dov Charney's Sleazy Struggle for Control of American Apparel