Now, people in Hollywood dream big. However, the biggest dreams belong to that of the American Apparel employee. They have such high hopes and desires. They want to be actors and models and writers and doctors (yes, doctors). Some even go on to pursue these dreams. Most, to be quite frank, don’t.
It isn’t because they lack the will or drive or motivation: it is because they are a slave to the trends. To their credit, American Apparel is still “cool,” as it is on the decline from being the cat’s meow since it is infiltrating the suburbs and betrays its own roots of being nonchalant, elitist, and fundamental. The company’s stock has devolved from clever referentials to cheaply made high-end knock offs that are highly expensive. No one is buying their bullshit anymore.
Anyway, there are three types of employees at the store: the Here-For-A-Days, the Going Nowheres, and the Nevergonnaleaves. The Here-For-A-Days are just that: they work there for a day, week, maybe even a month and quit. That is because they are in between jobs and want cheap clothes, realize that the job has nothing remotely upwardly mobile, and that the lightning Dov Charney caught in a bottle is quickly fizzling out. They usually go on to jobs that aren’t quite this slave labor intensive after they took the advice from a sassy, job-hating manager who said “Fuck this job: you have bigger shit to take care of!”
The Going Nowheres work at the Apparel for a while and always talk about wanting to quit and about how they are doing “well” at modeling and/or acting. The truth is, yes, they do want to quit and, no, they aren’t doing any acting or modeling (and by “acting or modeling” they mean “No, I haven’t been in an American Apparel ad yet”). They will leave (eventually), but they aren’t going to be doing bigger or better things: they’re going to do more of the same. These people always want sugar on their tongues and the next fix. They don’t really see the future: they see the now. And, now, it is all about clothes and being trendy.
The Nevergonnaleaves are those job-hating managers and giddy sales floor people and those grumpy backroom stock who have been there for months and months and months: they aren’t leaving any time soon. They’re entranced by the clothes, keep dreaming of what they could be doing, and lose track of time. They know they could be doing better and want to do better but are just stuck. They have a love/hate relationship with the company and, eventually, will quit when they’ve been pushed too far. They are the ones to feel sorry for. They are in the direst of straits.
All in all, the American Apparel employees aren’t bad people: their dream just got caught up in a trance that is now a sunken reality. Like any retail or F&B employee, they want to be current but they also want a life. At some point, they have to draw a line. Because American Apparel is so hot and it is created and manufactured in Los Angeles, it is very hard to quit. The company is like a bad drug habit: bad pay and shitty hours, but you get freeeeee clothesssss and you are coooooooooool.
Our Father who art Dov Charney: Let our people go.
TOXICITY LEVEL: 3
These people have it pretty rough. They’ve grown cynical from having their egos and realities bruised. They need to break those shackles and be free. Escape consumerist trends. Work at Fred Segal, kids.
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