Los Angeles
USA
Address
747 Warehouse Street Bldg 4
Los Angeles, CA 90021
USA
FMD-ID
BR1296
Phone
+1 213 488 0226 ; Fax: +1 213 488 0334

About

founded by

Dov Charney

belongs to

Dov Charney

about

American Apparel is the largest clothing manufacturer in the United States. It is a vertically integrated clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer that also performs its own design, advertising, and marketing. It is best-known for making basic cotton knitwear such as T-shirts and underwear, but in recent years it has expanded�to include leggings, leotards, tank tops, vintage clothing, dresses, pants, denim, nail polish, bedding and accessories for men, women, children, babies and dogs.

American Apparel was founded in 1989 by Canadian Dov Charney, who had a long history with T-shirts and a fascination with American culture. It was during Charney's freshman year at Tufts University that the company took on the name "American Apparel" and began to experiment with screenprinting, importation and other parts of the apparel business. In 1997 after a variety of iterations, including a period of manufacturing in South Carolina, the company moved to Los Angeles. Charney began to sub-contract sewing with Sam Lim who, at the time, had a shop with 50 workers under the Interstate 10 freeway in east LA. Months later the two became partners. In 2000 American Apparel moved into its current factory in downtown Los Angeles where it continued to grow primarily as a wholesale business, selling blank T-shirts to screenprinters, uniform companies and fashion brands.

After its success as a wholesale brand, the company moved into the retail market. The company was ranked 308th in Inc.'s 2005 list of the 500 fastest growing companies in the United States, with a 440% three-year growth and revenues in 2005 of over US$211 million.

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