Dov Charney
Dov Charney is the CEO of the garment company American Apparel (AA), which employed about 5,000 people in 2005. AA now has over 125 retail outlets with plans of expansion. His uncle is famous Israeli Canadian architect Moshe Safdie.
On why sweat shops are actually bad business
On why the Jewish community should start an inquiry into the sexual harrassment lawsuits against him
On why he personally interviews upwards of 100 prospective employees each week
On that his company deserves attention, even if a few media outlets don't.
Sourced
On going brand-free- I can’t wear any brand on my body - I just freak out. I mean, if I’m with a girl who’s wearing a Christian Dior necklace, I can’t even fuck her. And then there are those girls - like every girl I seem to find - who has one those Louis Vuitton bags. C’mon, it’s fucking false tribalism.
- Spunt, Alexandra (2003). "Mr. No Logo" MontrealMirror.com (accessed August 7, 2006)
On why sweat shops are actually bad business
- Look, I spent months in Mexico and the Dominican with subcontractors. I could tell you where all the best fucking bars are in the Dominican. What I’m trying to say is that it doesn’t work. My theory is, and I think I’m right - and I mean you guys had rioters in Montreal a few weeks ago [for the WTO] - is that going offshore is actually more expensive than these guys let on. What I’m going to prove, and I’m going to embarrass the entire fucking establishment, is that sweatshops are more expensive in the end than vertically integrated manufacturing in Canada or the U.S.
- Spunt, Alexandra (2003). "Mr. No Logo" MontrealMirror.com (accessed August 7, 2006
On why the Jewish community should start an inquiry into the sexual harrassment lawsuits against him
- How do you think it is on a Jewish mother? It’s horrible for her to see her son facing these accusations.
- Ellenson, Ruth (2005). "Unfashionable Crisis" The Jewish Journal (accessed August 8, 2006)
On why he personally interviews upwards of 100 prospective employees each week
- I made a mistake with these stores; I didn't do it myself and it's wrong. So I've had to let people go and there's nothing I hate more than having to get rid of kids. It breaks their hearts. But you know what? It affects sales. Should garment workers at my factory suffer because we fuck up the casting? What I'm looking for is style--that's not something you can teach a person. You have it or you don't. Let's say one girl has an acne problem but good style, while another one is beautiful but has no style. I'm picking acne!"
- Ellenson, Ruth (2005). "Unfashionable Crisis" The Jewish Journal (accessed August 8, 2006)
On that his company deserves attention, even if a few media outlets don't.
- "If 60 Minutes will not do a story on me, it's their problem not mine. I'm changing the world; they're just reporting on it."
- PR Week (2002)
About
- Take one part brilliant entrepreneur, one part narcissist, add in a smattering of Attention Deficit Disorder and a dash of philanthropy and you get Dov Charney.
- Spunt, Alexandra (2003). "Mr. No Logo" MontrealMirror.com (accessed August 7, 2006)