Besides their soft-porn ad campaigns, eccentric CEO and myriad legal battles, hipster empire American Apparel is known for making T-shirts, hoodies and other items of clothing. In fact, the majority of the band merchandise lying around on your bedroom floor was probably manufactured by the company in their Los Angeles factory. This may not be the case much longer, however, as American Apparel is facing some dire economic times.
As Billboard points out [via The Daily Swarm], American Apparel stocks plummeted to an all time low of 75 cents per share last week, an enormous drop compared to the $16.80 high the company saw in 2007. The company is losing nearly $30 million a year, and could feasibly declare bankruptcy in the near future.
When asked about the potential gap in a world without American Apparel, one indie merch company told Billboard that a bankruptcy would affect them drastically, as 90 percent of its stock is printed on American Apparel materials. This could mean that merchandise is printed on much more expensive shirts from Alternative Apparel or less comfortable, weirdly fitted items from Gildan.
Whatever the case may be, the world of independent merchandise will definitely see a hit if American Apparel folds. Worse yet will be finding a steady job for the hipsters in bands when they're not on tour. Who else will hire scruffy, tattooed musicians and turn a blind eye to their hapless shoplifting?
As Billboard points out [via The Daily Swarm], American Apparel stocks plummeted to an all time low of 75 cents per share last week, an enormous drop compared to the $16.80 high the company saw in 2007. The company is losing nearly $30 million a year, and could feasibly declare bankruptcy in the near future.
When asked about the potential gap in a world without American Apparel, one indie merch company told Billboard that a bankruptcy would affect them drastically, as 90 percent of its stock is printed on American Apparel materials. This could mean that merchandise is printed on much more expensive shirts from Alternative Apparel or less comfortable, weirdly fitted items from Gildan.
Whatever the case may be, the world of independent merchandise will definitely see a hit if American Apparel folds. Worse yet will be finding a steady job for the hipsters in bands when they're not on tour. Who else will hire scruffy, tattooed musicians and turn a blind eye to their hapless shoplifting?
