American Apparel Essay Example

2012 interview with ABC News, Charney discusses his choice of photographing models without heavy makeup or airbrushing. He explains that he aims to highlight their natural beauty and make them resemble regular customers. By promoting the concept of natural beauty, Charney hopes to encourage an engaging dialogue between his company and its customers as a means to sell products.

In her article "Introduction: Meaning and Ideology" from Decoding Advertisements, Judith Williamson discusses the presence of ideological meanings and representations in advertising. She argues that advertisements create a space or gap where the speaker should be, and consumers are drawn in to fill that gap. As a result, consumers become both the listener and speaker, subject and object, as they envision themselves using the products portrayed in the ad.

American Apparel utilizes this approach by employing models who resemble their customers. Through the models they choose, American Apparel successfully creates an image of their target audience in their advertising campaign. Nonetheless, the company has faced ongoing criticism for the sexually suggestive portrayal of its female models. For instance, a controversial advertisement from last year depicted a model reclining on a bed, with her legs in the air, wearing solely a grey sweater while her lower half seemed to be nude (see Figure A).

The advertisement, which the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) deemed "gratuitous" and "likely to cause offence," has been ordered to not be published by American Apparel again "in their current form" (Pous, "Intelligent or Indecent?"). In her chapter titled "Reading the Slender Body," Susan Bordo discusses how women's depictions in advertising are culturally encoded to reinforce gender stereotypes. According to Bordo, the

portrayal of slenderness is heavily influenced by societal beliefs surrounding female attractiveness (Bordo 204-205).

The advertisement features a slender woman who symbolizes a visually impactful narrative that includes obvious sexual connotations. The ad aims to push boundaries and entice consumers to the brand through its representation of gender, particularly its daring sexuality. According to Charney, there is an inherent link between fashion advertising and sexuality, with sex and fashion being closely connected.

According to Ryssadal in "Pushing boundaries and his biggest weakness," our clothing is intricately connected to our sexual expression, and this connection is constant. Consequently, it is unavoidable for advertising associated with clothing, such as Calvin Klein or American Apparel, to always have a sexual connotation. This link between sexuality and fashion advertising is explained by Charney as being rooted in the semiotic referent systems present in sexualized advertising and essential to the fashion industry's essence.

American Apparel is famous for its contentious branding and marketing techniques, which frequently ignite controversy through sexually suggestive ads and their progressive examination of feminine beauty and sexuality. Nonetheless, American Apparel deviated from their usual employment of bare-chested models in mesh tights by causing a commotion with the launch of "The Ardorous X American Apparel Period Power Washed Tee" (see Figure B) (store.americanapparel.net). This shirt prominently displays an illustration of a woman engaging in masturbation while on her period.

The t-shirt caused a public backlash of disgust and repulsion on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook (Hamilton, "Bare the Labia and Tackles a Taboo"). The creator of the shirt, Petra Collins, is an OCAD student studying art criticism and curatorial practice. In

an interview with TIME. newsfeed. com, Collins talked about how the shirt boldly confronts female sexuality, saying "I chose to display a highly taboo subject on a T-shirt so that it can be seen by all."

The author points out that societal norms often lead us to suppress or conceal natural aspects of the adult body, such as the menstrual cycle and masturbation (Hamilton, "Bare the Labia and Tackles a Taboo"). The intention of Collins' shirt was to initiate a thoughtful conversation, but it was incorrectly interpreted by Tracie Egan Morrissey from Jezebel, who questioned where one would wear a shirt displaying a menstruating vagina (Morrissey, "Menstruating Vagina Shirt"). This example demonstrates how American Apparel uses its brand to promote both a lighthearted and serious discussion on female beauty and sexuality.

American Apparel's branding model aligns with its manufacturing model by targeting progressive and young urban adults, while simultaneously promoting the sexualization of women in the fashion industry. This controversial branding approach is evident in their advertisements, which are heavily saturated with sexual connotations and denotations.

American Apparel's branding strategy creates controversial ads that objectify women, while also promoting a discussion about feminism. However, the company continues to reinforce gender stereotypes and expectations for women in its fashion advertisements. The branding and manufacturing approaches are in sync as they target young urban adults and use explicit sexual imagery to connect consumer desires and controversy with American Apparel's fashion products.