Dear American Apparel,

This has been a hard year for you. In 2015, your debt has crippled business, sales have been on the decline with almost no hope of ever rising again, employees are complaining and ex-CEO and founder Dov Charney just won’t seem to go away (nor will that lawsuit between you two). Not to mention, last week you filed for bankruptcy. What a sad day it was for actual American-made businesses.

But in reality, your bankruptcy could be what saves you. Without that, you wouldn’t have been able to reduce your debt by debt-for-equity conversion and keep your Los Angeles manufacturing operations running. Without bankruptcy, you would have been signing your own death wish.

Wet Seal, Delia’s and Body Central have all already gone under this year, but you, you may be able to stick it out. You started in 1989 as a T-shirt label and continued as a front-runner of the alternative, edgy look of the ’90s and early 2000s with your bodysuits and disco pants (which you can still pretty much get if you shop there today). You committed yourself to being a brand that would supply local jobs in Los Angeles, priding yourself as one of the few brands that is actually made in the U.S., rather than China, Bangladesh, India or Vietnam. No outsourcing here!

Some people might say you’re overpriced for basics you could get somewhere else for 10 bucks cheaper, but here’s the truth: you can get similar basics somewhere else for $10 cheaper that will fall apart within a year. America has become so obsessed with fast fashion that quality has diminished as an effect. But not for you. Your clothes are a buy once, last forever-type deal.

While people might be bashing you for your questionable advertising techniques, they can’t deny that your clothes and the bulk of your business aren’t questionable; they’re the real deal. That shirt I bought my sophomore year of high school? Yep, I can still wear it as a senior in college and can probably wear it for the next five years of my life (because after then I should probably look nice for a real job).

Your fabric doesn’t fall apart in the washing machine. Your hemlines are even. I can mix and match any of your pieces to create hundreds of different outfit options. You still keep up with the trends, so I can get those just-in trendy pieces that I see in magazines for a better quality than I can get elsewhere. You keep things interesting with bold patterns and fabrics. You might have pretty much all basics in your stores, but you don’t always keep them simple — you always have a different take.

You also have a voice. I can tell any one of your pieces from a mile away — the leggings, the patterned bodysuits, the denim-buttoned skirts, the high neck ribbed sweaters, the shiny Lycra everything. You are iconic.

So don’t give up, American Apparel. Things might look dim, but you have a following. There are plenty of us who love our basics that are going to last us until the end of time. And we’ll show up at your doors with our own shopping bags. We’ll shop until we drop, not you.

Love,
Your loyal American Apparel customers

Published on October 12, 2015 at 11:20 pm