How American Apparel Went From Stylish to Fashion Disaster

Michael Beausoleil
7 min readMay 17, 2024

Believe it or not, there’s a growing number of teens and young adults who are infatuated by the early 2010s aesthetic. Well, if you want to know what that era looked like, just look at an American Apparel ad.

For some time, American Apparel was the go-to brand for environmentally conscious and perpetually broke hipsters to get their basics. It was known for its simple yet bold clothing, and as the name implies, the products were made in the United States.

An American Apparel Ad with a woman in a red, single-piece swimsuite
Photo via American Apparel

The concept helped the brand become all the rage and the ads were staples of big cities like New York and Los Angeles. But, by 2017 the cities that used to be adorned in advertisements for the brand were posting going out of business signs. That year, all of the remaining US stores closed.

You can look at the numbers to get an idea of how the brand fell from grace, but like most clothing retailers, customers determine whether they’ll live or die. The public’s perception of the brand led to its downfall, but maybe, changing trends have given AA a glimmer of hope.

A fast, fashion history

American Apparel dates back to 1989 when Tufts University student Dov Charney started making T-shirts. Initially, the business produced clothing in the US and was noted for having fair labor…

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Michael Beausoleil

User Analytics | Digital & Brand Marketing | Productivity … hoping to explore topics that interest me and find others with similar passions