When you wade through the ads, the mission statements, and the half-naked women on their billboards, American Apparel's design tenets are simplicity, solid colors, and a bit of retro 80's thrown in to the mix. Their mannequins often feature tall socks with a solid stripe near the cuff, solid shorts, tanks, armbands, and other clothing befitting a young John McEnroe. Walk through their entire men's collection, however, and you see a lot of common things:
- Solid colors everywhere. Take a design, like a shirt, and make 30 solid versions of it, each with a different color.
- Thin, thin cotton. As in practically see-through T-shirts. Do we in the U.S.A. have inferior cotton or something?
- Uninventive patterns. The entire men's line that I perused contained nothing that caught my eye as interesting or different. Standard-issue-looking T-shirts, shorts, pullovers, sweats, and the like is all they have for guys.
- Price. For a friggin thin T-Shirt, solid color, no print, $20 is excessive.
I feel bad calling American Apparel boring. Their whole "made in the USA" shtick seems genuine, and I don't want to slam those who aren't outsourcing their manufacturing to sweatshops. But, come on AA, can you get crackin' on some more interesting designs? Right now Target and K-Mart have you beat in that department, sad to say.
21 comments:
George, it's about the fit. Don't knock it until you try it on.
Yeah, they are staples, our clothes, but they are really good staples. Sexy staples.
And sheer jersey is light and great for summer.
Well, $20 is the price you have to pay for a t-shirt made by someone being paid a fair wage (if you call U.S. minimum wage fair).
As for the boring -- hell, I'm a big fan about finding one thing that I like and buying it in every color they have! Ok, maybe I'm boring. But the poor quality is no excuse.
Weronika, fair feedback on the fit. Though I do wonder whether you guys have perfected the fit on such virtual clothing commodities like T-shirts. Still, that's something I need to try for myself.
As for the clothes being sexy staples, I don't think you guys are innovating here one bit in terms of design. I've seen copies of your clothes (or originals, if yours are the copies :)) in many many other stores, both expensive boutiques and inexpensive mass-market stores. I welcome to be proven otherwise (I guess that's why I blogged about it :)), but so far all I've seen is the same staples others offer. Hence my post's theme being about your clothes being "boring".
Rebecca, I do wonder if $20 is a direct outcome of the wage paid in the States. I'm all about fair wages (and am ashamed of the low federal minimum wage), but I wish I had more of an understanding of the breakdown of the cost of the T-shirt and how it went back to the company, the laborers, the cotton-growers, the designers, and so on. Such transparency isn't common in this industry (heck, in any industry), but if AA is shooting to change the rules and break the model, then they should go all the way here. Maybe they have something to this effect and I can be proven otherwise here as well?
Me again.
I think "boring" is not necessarily a derogatory term if by boring you mean really simple. Our clothes are not embellished but they are well-fitting. Whereas most mass-produced T-shirts are boxy, ours are tapered, with sleeves that drape just-so. If there is a design detail, it's subtle, like the neckline on our deep V T-shirt. They are something you'd wear when you want a simple T-shirt that flatters you without calling attention to itself.
As for cost...
I don't have the exact breakdown of how the retail cost of a T-shirt is established -- there are so many variables! -- but I know that things such as price of oil (there is transport involved) and real-estate market (stores have to pay rent) play a role.
Rebecca, our garment workers make far more than minimum wage. Their pay rate varies by how much they produce, but even if they produce nothing (if, for example, their machine is broken) they get $9 per hour. Sometimes they get $20 per hour. Right now the average hourly wage for our garment workers is $12.50.
And most of the administration and creative staff make about as much as well. I used to be an assistant to Dov Charney (the founder and CEO of American Apparel) so I know how much he takes out of the company. Not much. Enough to feed himself and his two dogs (standard fare) and to buy some fancy lightbulbs (which he is crazy about).
So rest assured, when you buy an American Apparel T-shirt you are not financing private jets or three-martini lunches. We have a fleet of mercedez benzes that date back to the 80's and we eat tamales at the factory cantina.
Simple business model, simple clothes.
I dunno, maybe I'm boring too, but I'm a sucker for a man in American Apparel's eggplant the button collared shirt. SOOOO sexy.
In my usage of "boring" I didn't mean "simple". I meant that AA wasn't innovative in their clothing design, at least from my vantage point of appearance. I'll give you that you guys spend time designing the fit (without having tried a shirt on, mind you), but in my opinion fit is only one of many facets of a piece of clothing's design. Fabric, color combinations, prints, textures, fasteners, and many other things contribute to what I think makes for an interesting design.
I don't see AA make stuff I haven't seen elsewhere, by a long shot. Hence my blog post.
I'm happy to hear about your wages and a relatively flat pay scale across your employees. That definitely gets the activist in me interested in buying your product. However, I can't make myself do it because I still claim that your products need to distinguish themselves in more ways than just fit and fair wages to make me pull out my wallet.
make that *three* button. This one in fact: http://www.americanapparelstore.com/2412.html
It's subtle, I know, but there's just something about it...
Oh well. We can't please everyone. I am glad that Lindsey likes us. Yey Lindsey! Excellent taste.
Weronika, I do have one more question for you if you happen to check back here: how many clothing designers would you say AA currently employs? I'm curious, given your argument about designing the "fit", and my argument about lacking design in other areas.
Also, you guys certainly do please some but not others. Opinions seem to run the gamut, as evidenced here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/UtsSLPbz6QP6KrC5lApnSA
American Apparel's design tenets are simplicity, solid colors, and a bit of retro 80's thrown in to the mix.
Yup, which is exactly why I like them (I really really detest logo-wear, for one thing). That, and the shirts are so incredibly comfortable. I bought a couple last year (ones with various designs I liked screenprinted on by third parties), and realized that they made all my other shirts feel uncomfortable, ended up buying a bunch more. They are expensive, but $12 (online price) is pretty tolerable insofar as whenever I put on a non-AA shirt now, it feels scratchy and hangs weirdly.
My $.02
We don't have anyone here with the title "Fashion Designer." We have a Product Development team of ten people, roughly half of whom do more conceptual work, the other half more technical work. All these people are devoted to making things fit just so. When they are developing a new style, they ask people around the company -- people with different body shapes and lifestyles -- to try things out, use them and abuse them, and report back on what improvements need to be made. (I am test-driving our upcoming slim slack that way). Each style that is released has a page on our website with a button you can click to give feedback on that style.
About the gamut of opinions: anything that is new and un-boring is going to elicit varied opinions. Until it becomes a classic. ;)
I only sleep with men who wear American Apparel tee shirts.
Plus one to what anon said.
NIKE pasted across your chest?
WHY ?
Sorry but I'm not into the walking billboard thing.
Also, care to comment on the Hollister , american eagle, shiiiii-stuff going on ?
Finally, yeah, once u go aa, everything else FEELS less comfortable- Period
its HOW you wear it brainiac, you are probly the most dull and boring person on earth, ive seen people pull off awesome outfits with nothing BUT AA on. What are you complaining about with the cotton? they make like 4 styles in different materials..
and also, they dont make "neon hats"
me again,
i ment 1 style in 4 different materials
AA is ridiculously boring. Even if the fit was good (which it is, but that should be a given if you are a professional clothing company, who measures things like this for a living), why would i ever pay 16 bucks for one plain undesigned panty...i don't get why AA is still in business. i have found good fit, comfort, and DESIGN for much less. American apparel sucks, period.
AA kicks ass. i love that they focus on being natural. it's a very sexy line and i'm a HUGE fan of guys who can pull off american apparel anything, be it v-necks or slim slacks. i don't mind the prices because of their work ethic but i can see where some people are coming from saying that they're paying so much for such a simple garment. however, super comfort, sexiness, perfect fit, and awesome colors are rare no matter where you go.
The quality of their t-shirts is appalling. They shrink and tear after one wash.
Unfortunately, many touring bands use them for their band shirts. I will NEVER buy one again - and I gave them many chances.
Just another example of overpriced and shoddy quality American work.
The point is not to have stupid stuff on your shirt like Kmart and Target, that the person makes the clothes... Solid colors are the most basic of any design, and i quite frankly, find it absolutely ingenious (AA is the fastest growing clothing line in the US)
ALSO: AA shirts are some of the most comfortable and durable shirts for their price- any old shirt made in Madagascar will not stay very pristine, they tend to get stiffer wash after wash, and you could be walking around with a design on your shirt that 5 million others do; that just screams to people "I buy my clothes at Target!!" This is a turn-off for a large majority of hot chicks. Or maybe things are just different here in Gainesville....
The products from AA are of high quality and the fit is ok, granted, but that doesn't change the fact that their design is boring. Having said that, boring is not necessarily a bad thing if simplicit is what you are striking for. But I just can't stop wondering every time I step into an AA store that where is the creativity?
In fact, when I was travelling in Asia, e.g. Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the clothing design there is much more creative and bold. They are much more willing to try new things. I have sympathy for the big labels in US here because they couldn't really do anything really special. Because I think if you produce something that deviates too much from the "main stream", then you are going to suffer in sales. Sadly, that might have something to do with the consumer taste and tolerance here, which are relatively more conservative, at least in terms of fashion.
They have a good fit if you're a stick figure. If you're not prepare to look completely ridiculous.
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