| malek |
From the Ottawa Citizen... long but a very intresting read, Montreal exported abroad :)
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A Montreal boy learns that sex sells
Moshe Safdie's nephew is a retail prodigy who may have taken one risk too many, reports Chris Lackner.
Chris Lackner
The Ottawa Citizen
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Dov Charney, shown on a recent visit to an American Apparel store in his home town, has taken a Montreal-bred sense of style and combined it with a daring, unorthodox business model to create a hip and successful clothing chain. However, three former employees have decried the sexually charged atmosphere in the workplace and are claiming sexual harassment.
Explaining the source of his fashion instincts, Dov Charney thumped his chest and said "I know it here and in my pants."
Mr. Charney is the 36-year-old founder and CEO of American Apparel Inc., the rapidly expanding ultra-hip clothing chain headquartered in Los Angeles. He was born and raised in Montreal, which is where, last March, he made the comment about finding inspiration in his pants. He was speaking at a business conference, though Mr. Charney is a most unorthodox businessman.
He has publicly talked of having romantic relationships with his employees and once joked to a journalist: "When everyone is doing everyone else, it's good for morale."
His company's sexually charged advertising campaigns -- sometimes photographed by Mr. Charney himself -- feature partially-undressed young women and men sporting the company's form-fitting, logo free T-shirts and lingerie. The company recently hired porn star Lauren Phoenix, star of Anal Delinquents and Angels of Debauchery, to model the company's fashions and Mr. Charney himself has appeared semi-nude in a few ads.
Mr. Charney is, in all probability, a retail prodigy. And like many other geniuses, he also has a colourful, some would say eccentric, personality. One doesn't have to look much further than his trademark 70s-chic moustache. But according to some former employees, his persona is far from harmless: three women who worked for American Apparel have filed lawsuits in Los Angeles accusing Mr. Charney of sexual harassment.
Nothing has been proven in court and Mr. Charney denies the allegations. Indeed, American Apparel, sometimes likened to an alternative or grittier version of The Gap, has always presented itself as a politically progressive company.
American Apparel has taken a stand against sweatshop labour and outsourcing. All of its clothing is made in Los Angeles and its factory workers are paid well above the minimum wage and receive added perks, such as health care coverage, subsidized lunches and bus passes.
But, while Mr. Charney is anti-sweatshop, don't confuse him for an anti-capitalist. He went to school with fellow Montrealer Naomi Klein, now the guru of the left-wing anti-globalization movement. Mr. Charney has called her a "brand-sucking princess snob."
The sexually charged marketing behind American Apparel is risky and original and creativity runs in Mr. Charney's family.
His uncle is the famous Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie, whose work includes the National Gallery of Canada. His father, Maurice Charney, is an architect and his mother, Sylvia Safdie, an artist. "Growing up in Montreal in the 1970s and 1980s, you couldn't ask for a better milieu to cultivate expanded and creative thinking.
"Montrealers care -- there is a passion and emotion they put into their clothing and food. What I took was that Montreal flavour and attitude and put it into my affairs at American Apparel."
In the two years that the company has expanded from wholesale into retail, American Apparel has opened more than 50 stores worldwide. By the end of the year, that number will be more than 80.
But in their lawsuits, the three disgruntled former employees allege that American Apparel's work environment makes women feel unsafe and that they were personally harassed by Mr. Charney.
They claim Mr. Charney would use crude and insulting language and even expose himself to employees. One plaintiff claims she was propositioned by Mr. Charney and says he requested women he had expressed sexual interest in be hired.
Mr. Charney says the plaintiffs are simply seeking to exploit the company's financial success by misrepresenting the free-spirited and relaxed office environment it encourages.
"The three women that are suing American Apparel appreciated and were attracted to that environment of openness," he says. "And then, when they had a hard time or didn't get along with me or they had challenges to their experience, I feel like they're now using that environment of freedom against the company."
Mr. Charney acknowledges that he sometimes uses racy language around co-workers, but says that's part of working in the fashion and entertainment world.
"If I said 'I really need some hotter girls at the show' ... or 'hot ' or whatever, a lot of it is intended to be comic and entertaining," he says. "Let's say 'get some hotter bitches in the store.' It's not nice and it doesn't read well in an article in the Harvard Business Review, but at the same time, it's a good joke among young people."
At the company's Canadian head office in Montreal, most employees put little stock in the allegations against their flamboyant leader.
"He's not a sexual predator -- it's absurd to us all," said Ronite Sasson, a vice-president with the company who has known Mr. Charney since he was 13 years old. "He is very playful and outspoken about his sexuality, among other things, but to actually exploit or assault is completely out of character.
"He's been doing this for close to 20 years and this is the first time any lawsuits of this nature have been brought out," she says. "He's 36 years old. He's not a dirty old man. He started this business at a ripe young age and a lot of the girls he works with are up his alley. Yes, he dates some of them. It's only natural. He spends so many hours working with them and hanging out with them."
"He is the way he is," says Tasha Dunn, 25, who works in the company's customer service department. "Some people could mistake the way he is and turn it into something negative."
The company has about 4,500 employees working in a nondescript building near the downtown core. Mr. Charney says he employs Montrealers in his offices and retail locations across North America. :D
More than 500,000 items of clothing are housed in the 50,000-square-foot Montreal office.
Each day, roughly goods worth roughly $50,000 are shipped to wholesalers and retail stores across Canada. The company expects to make $19 million in Canada this year and up to $250 million overall.
The showroom at the Montreal office is filled with the colourful, body-hugging clothes found in the company catalogue, but there is also children's clothing and dog apparel. The walls are lined with the notoriously erotic advertisements.
Mr. Charney is proud of the company's advertisements and says they're not any racier than those of Calvin Klein or Buffalo Jeans. None of American Apparel's modelling is outsourced and Mr. Charney often acts as company photographer. The models range from employees to Mr. Charney's friends to random people he encounters on his travels.
"You get real women and men -- we try to pick out natural beauty," he says. "What I think some people find alarming is that it could be their daughter in a photo instead of a dressed-up mannequin painted with makeup."
Each retail location typically displays the company's ads and, in some cases, the sensual decor is enhanced with vintage covers of magazines like Oui, Playgirl and Playboy.
"It's not Hooters -- it's not a strip bar by any means," he says of his outlets. "It's a theatre -- the people are there to make you feel comfortable about what you're buying."
A self-described "hustler," Mr. Charney launched his career in clothing as a teenager selling screen-printed T-shirts outside the Montreal Forum.
The "perceived instability" of Quebec convinced him to move to the United States, where he began an American studies degree at Boston's Tufts University. After dropping out, he set up American Apparel in South Carolina. After offshore factories cut into the profits of the state garment industry in the mid-1990s, Mr. Charney says he was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1996 and reopen his business in Los Angeles.
The company's shift from basic T-shirt to body-hugging clothing took place after Mr. Charney noticed many women were wearing boys' T-shirts for a sexier fit. He was also inspired by an Argentine ex-girlfriend who always wore form-fitting T-shirts made in South America.
American Apparel's sexy, clingy T-shirt styles have since become common across the industry. Mr. Charney says American Apparel's success and his transparent personality have made his company a vulnerable target for lawsuits.
"It's my age and public persona. I'm a young bachelor. I do party. I do like women," he says. "I'm in the market. I'm not in the suburbs yet -- I haven't retired. I'm still having a good time."
But the attorney for one of the three plaintiffs, Mary Nelson, says there is no excuse for Mr. Charney's workplace behaviour.
"This is the first case in my career in which it's a slam dunk," Keith Fink says. "He's an intelligent businessman, but never have I seen a CEO act like this. Who in his right mind could think they could act like this? What kind of CEO walks around in his underpants?"
Pat Honda, a customer service manager based in the Los Angeles office, says Mr. Charney is the size small fitting model for the company's clothing.
"If he's in his underwear, he's in his office. It's for fitting, not for parading around," she says. "The man wears pants."
She says none of the three women who filed lawsuits against Mr. Charney lodged any complaints against him while working for the company, adding she believes the allegations are being made solely for financial gain.
But one American employment lawyer says the use of derogatory or offensive language in the workplace, if proven to have taken place, can constitute sexual harassment.
The defence "needs to prove that, under the context, a reasonable woman would not be offended," says Phil Horowitz, chairman of the California Employment Lawyers Association.
Moreover, Mr. Horowitz says any modern CEO or executive should think twice about getting romantically involved with employees. "It creates the appearance of impropriety -- how can you remain objective?" he says.
Mr. Charney believes he will be cleared of any wrongdoing and is trying to focus on the future of his company.
"I'm denying any sexual misconduct and denying I've had any sexual intentions with these girls, but their lawsuits bring up freedom of speech and freedom of expression issues. We can't just let totalitarian and politically correct forces or morally conservative forces reduce the freedom or right for businesses or people to associate and create environments they'd like to work in."
Trouble for the Sexy CEO |
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