Ain't That America?

"Ooooh say can you seeeeeee, by the dawn's early light, what so proooooudly we hailed, at Dov Charney's meeting? Who's big scheme and big bucks, had us all fooled to think, this Ameeeeerican brand, wasn't sick and misleading." Oh, that's not how it goes? Someone should let American Apparel know.

A few of you have expressed concerns about products made in China. There's a lot of hype out there about the problems with sending our money over seas and the worry, that, even though we're told there are no little hands making our products, that may not be the case. But before we go getting up in arms over a maybe, let's take a step back and look at our own home front. What better company to put under a microscope than one with a true blue patriotic name, American Apparel.

While they may make trendy, sexy clothing, and have eye catching billboards, American Apparel has been in trouble almost as many times as Paris Hilton. In 2007, they took their sex sells attitude a bit too far, with a billboard of a mostly naked model bending over in a pretty compromising position. The billboard climbed to infamy, when someone tagged it with the following question: "Gee, I wonder why women get raped?" So, they promote rape, no big deal. Then it should come as no surprise that they have been the target of multiple sexual harassment lawsuits. Even Woody Allen, the creator and director of "Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask," stated that the company's advertising was "sleazy" and "infantile." Oh well, A.A., maybe Ron Jeremy has something nice to say about you?

So, what does this have to do with outsourcing and importing? Well, nothing. However, recently, American Apparel has been thrown in to the fire once again, but this time because of labor practices. In 2009, an inspection, which started because of C.E.O Dov Charney's advocacy for immigration reform, revealed that one third of A.A.'s employees were not authorized to work in the United States. That billboard girl may be wearing American flag underwear (on a bed, with her legs spread of course) but they probably weren't manufactured by American hands.

Here at the House of Bamboo, we understand your initial concern with a globalized economy, too much outsourcing, companies that use overseas labor not being on the up and up, etc. But companies like Dreamsacks aren't promoting rape or negative self-images for young women. They aren't sexually harassing their employees, and they ARE visiting their factories on a regular basis to develop a relationship with their employees and to insure care is taken with the environment. You decide, and if, in the end, you prefer to buy things made in America, we have that too. We just don't carry any American Apparel.

Song of the Day "The Star Spangled Banner " as done by Jimi Hendrix.