Caught with their pants down
February 10, 2026 3:40 PM
Social responsibility is an ironic thing. Organizations claim to uphold values that are beneficial to society, and sometimes they do. But the rest of the time, corporations use green thinking, fair trade, or ethical production to hide practices that would blow the disregard of these right out of the water.
Take American Apparel, for example. The clothing manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer has experienced massive success through marketing a “sweatshop free” product.
This image, along with clever branding that makes the consumer think they are purchasing something vastly different from a Hanes tee, has not only allowed American Apparel to charge above-market prices, but has masked a few other questionable practices.
Dov Charney, founder and CEO of the company, is an interesting character. No stranger to media attention, he is known for prancing around his LA factory pants-less, and using choice expletives to refer to his female employees. He has his hands in every aspect of the organization, from design to hiring of retail employees.
Part of the ingenuity that allowed American Apparel to become successful so quickly, apart from ethical production, is their advertising campaigns. Racy billboards featuring questionably legal girls leaving next to nothing to the imagination have sparked controversy since the company expanded beyond t-shirts in 2006.
But who doesn’t love controversy, right? Especially when this progressive company is paying their labourers fair wages, using organic cotton, and supporting minorities. It’s the future of retail and we all look rad.
Think again, naive hipsters.
The fact is, Charney should frighten the harem pants right off you. While his understanding of the fashion industry is undeniable, his inability to perceive reality is as difficult to argue with.
As aforementioned, he heavily participates in many of American Apparel’s functions, including advertising photography. A direct result of this: various complaints from models, and several sexual harassment lawsuits.
How can a man, who seems to respect human rights enough to risk running a deficit to provide labourers with benefits unheard of in similar companies, violate models in the same breath?
In addition to this, the photographs that are a result of these encounters do more to display nipples than they do American Apparel fare. While one can easily fall back on the tried and true “sex sells”, these images are a clear reflection of Charney’s values, or lack thereof.
And what does a person like Charney do when his PR managers tell him he can’t use these images anymore, or add to the decline in revenue resulting from all those lawsuit payouts?
Why, have his friend Boris Lopez (whose work has been featured in such publications as Hustler’s Barely Legal and Tight) draw some even more offensive pictures to slap over the photographed ones for the 2011 ad campaign! Naturally.
Clearly, we’ve got some hypocrisy going on here. While it’s obviously extremely difficult for an organization to be completely ethical and profitable at the same time, a little consistency in values can go a long way.
And I don’t mean encouraging your models, employees and the rest of the world to go pants-less with you.
