American Apparel

American Apparel is a very problematic company and its one that I have a rather uneasy relationship with.
Whilst banging on about how they are ‘sweatshop free’ and pay an astounding minimum wage to their Hispanic staff in downtown LA, they condone the objectification and exploitation of women as commercial prostitutes in their advertising campaign. They also appear to breach all legislation on equal opportunities as their application forms request you submit three photographs of yourself along with facebook and blog addresses. I have applied on more than three opportunities and have never heard anything back despite ticking all the boxes for sales assistant or stock room assistant on my CV. Perhaps if I shaved half my head, wore some ironic headdress and started preaching the gospel of VICE magazine I’d be in with a greater chance?
Anyway, the staff they do employ are incredibly poor at their designated roles and not surprisingly so considering they are hand selected and probably flown in from Williamsburg to set the standard. Not only do they make you feel incredibly inadequate and uncomfortable whilst browsing, they are quick to point out their appallingly limited returns policy for their very expensive clothes.
However, ninety percent of the clothes in the shop are painfully desirable and come in the most luscious array of colours and fabrics. Just one item has the ability to really enhance an outfit and their styles shun the ephemeral prints the high street stores pump out, creating really timeless staple pieces. I admit to owning American Apparel clothes yet I despise the company so I guess this demonstrates that my lust for fashion defeats my principles and this is something I’m quite ashamed of!

I have long been a fan of American Apparel’s super stylish basics and accessories, but was always restricted to shopping online. So you can imagine my joy a year or so ago, when they opened a big, shiny new store slap bang in the middle of Market Street. This has fast become one of my absolute go-​to shops; I always know I’ll leave with something.
AA is known mostly for offering a wide range of basics in a huge variety of colours and patterns; their simple legging comes in 26 colours, and the iconic hoodies with white strings come in, like, 45 different colours, including polka dot and stripe patterns.
Basically, every girl should own a few pairs of AA leggings, two or three of their tsshirt dresses, at least one hoodie… and that’s just the foundation of your LA fabulous wardrobe. I would say that between us, the boyf and I probably own about 30 items of American Apparel. So, why such fanboyism? Well, AA works with the best raw materials, producing super-​lightweight tshirts out of superfine cotton, which keep their shape. One of my longest-​serving AA items is a beautiful plum-​coloured tshirt dress, which has been worn once a week (at least) for 2 years, and still looks as fabulous as the day I bought it. With wearability like that, it’s worth paying that little bit more.
A lot of the items here are unisex, and they really do work on both genders. As a result, the boyf is constantly bemoaning the fact that I wear his plain grey sweatshirt more often than he does. In fact, as I write this, I’m wearing one of his many hoodies. He likes to take the white strings out because he thinks it makes him cool… bless.
The staff in this branch are all supercool (and most of ‘em are hawttt), probably because they have to wear exclusively AA garments at work. It’s all I can do to suppress my jealous rage when I think of the discount they must get, but when the red mist clears, it’s a good idea to check out the sales staff. They will usually be wearing newer items, that you might not be aware of. I have also found that they often wear old faves with a new twist. You have to show a sense of personal style to work here (as well as being, like, hawttt) so these hotties are basically walking mannequins. And helpful, too. When you ask for a different size or colour, they willl actually go out back to check in the stockroom, rather than giving the stock high street (lie) answer of «that’s all we’ve got in… sorry»
Recently AA came under attack by super conservative Americans who thought that their ads were promoting child porn and exploitation. They were quickly stopped in their tracks when it emerged that the exploited ‘child’ in the ads was in fact a fully consenting, 25 year old model. That story kind of epitomises AA for me; they’re daring (witness their full mesh minidress…), tongue in cheek, and not as wild and crazy as their Daily Mail-​reading haters might think.
Plus, they make totally rad leggings…

«I’m gonna live forever…
I’m gonna learn how to fly high…
Remember, remember, remember my name…»
Don’t ask my why but every time I venture into American Apparel I have flashbacks of scenes from Fame and Flashdance. I’ve never actually seen any staff or customers leaping or dancing around the store but the bold strip lights, shiny walls and rainbow coloured clothes definitely give the impression of a stage set. Likewise, the racks of coloured leggings, string vests, tees and sweatshirts mean I always expect to see Leroy and co emerge from the changing rooms. The fact it never happens is kinda dissapointing!
As for the clothes, the sweats and hoodies are cool but I can’t imagine many folk wandering round Manchester in leotards and yellow, red, green or purple jeans!

Eesh… I’m very here and there with this new store, occupying the rather conspicuous location on Market Street and screaming its name with massive black letters. I’d read much praise of the franchise in fashion magazines, and the fact that they’re selling extremely cute and rather cool (a difficult combo) Sesame Street tees to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the kids’ show, well, this all speaks volumes.
But then you go to the website, and they seem to be pushing this printed bodysuit thong creation. No, I’m not kidding. It’s all over the fricking website. Made worse by the fact that a model is prancing around on a bed in the thing, without pants, and I swear, some of the shots are almost gynaecological. Her name is Valeria. You can’t miss it.
I feel like I’m promoting porn to people. This is not my intent…
Ahem. Admittedly, that has little to do with the shop in Manchester, but this isn’t the first time American Apparel has got into trouble for showing models’ nudey-​bits. But you could say this is a way of, er, sexing up clothing that despite its bright colours is quite standard and simple. It started as mainly an underwear and T-​shirt outlet but its range has grown over the years. And I really, REALLY cannot argue with the fact that they don’t airbrush their models. And they aren’t all single-​figure sizes. Applause, American Apparel. Applause.
Near to Urban Outfitters and All Saints seems to be the perfect spot for this new fashion-​conscious and controversial store. I know Londoners like it… let’s see if Mancunians follow suit!