American Apparel Under Fire Again
Hipster brand American Apparel is in hot water again. After criticism for airbrushing images to fix its advertisements that were banned by Advertising Standards Authority for sexualization the company is stirring attention lately for a leaked email from a modeling agency casting.
‘[The] company is going through a rebranding image so will be shooting models moving forward,’ LA casting agent Phira Luon wrote in a March 18 email blast to models that was obtained by The New York Post. ‘Real models. Not Instagram hoes or THOTs.’ (ICYDK THOT stands for ‘that hoe over there’)
Luon followed up with an apology adding: ‘The comment made at the end was made in jest with models whom I have a personal relationship with and did not reflect the views, or directives by the client. I apologize to all those who were offended or affected by my comments, as it was not my intention.’
By looking to cast leggier and higher-paid professionals or what you might call more traditional models, American Apparel is making an effort to distance itself from ousted founder Dov Charney’s controversial vision for the company, which mostly saw ads featuring amateur models in sexually charged poses. The new effort is believed to be initiated by Senior Vice President of Marketing Cynthia Erland who allegedly told employees that they would not hire models who were ‘too short and round.’ Erland however denied the same telling News.com.au in a statement that said, ‘This is completely false. American Apparel embraces body types of all shapes, ethnicities and sizes, and our model casting has and will continue to reflect this.’
In the past American Apparel has been met with criticism for a number of ads, for their overt sexualization of women.
