American Apparel Women's Fashion Brand

American Apparel Inc. is a North American clothing manufacturer, designer, distributor, marketer and former retailer based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Canadian businessman Dov Charney in 1989. The company was unusual: it made what it sold, in its own factories, and built a women's basics empire on the claim - effortless basics and iconic fashion favorites for women, men and kids: t-shirts, hoodies, denim and more.

For a generation of women, this was the default shop for the plain-but-right version of everything: the t-shirt with the correct neckline, the hoodie with real weight, leggings, bodysuits and dresses in a wall of colours. The clothes were deliberately logo-free - the opposite of the branded casual wear elsewhere in this letter - and the brand identity came from the cut, the colour range and the photography rather than a mark on the garment.

Closure and the Gildan Purchase

In January 2017, American Apparel laid off 2,400 Southern California workers and started the process of shutting down company factories and closing its 110 stores. However, the brand may live on: in January 2017, Gildan Activewear purchased American Apparel's intellectual property and other assets for $88 million in a bankruptcy auction, after the company filed for bankruptcy a second time in November 2016.

That history explains what a shopper finds today. The name and the designs survived as intellectual property under new ownership; the Los Angeles manufacturing operation did not. Pieces from the original era - made in the company's own factories - are the ones vintage and resale buyers seek out, and labels are the way to tell them from later production under the new owners. This page is kept as the brand's profile, history included, as Apparel Search keeps profiles even when a company's story turns.

Buying American Apparel Basics

Judge the basics as basics deserve: by fabric and cut. Original-era t-shirts and fleece were known for substantial cotton and a fit that ran close; check used pieces for the familiar failure points of hard-worked staples - neckline stretch, underarm wear, leggings thinning at the inner thigh. Colour is the fun of this brand: the famous colour walls mean unusual shades appear secondhand regularly, and a wanted colour in good condition is worth buying when seen.

Sizing in the early unisex-leaning basics ran differently from standard women's sizing, so measurements beat labels on resale listings. Cotton staples wash well and often; the care rules are the ordinary ones - cool washes for colour, reshape fleece while damp. A good American Apparel basic, from either era, earns its place the way the range intends: worn constantly, with everything, without a logo in sight.

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