Dov Charney

Dov Charney in 2008

Dov Charney (born January 31, 1969 in Montreal (Quebec - Canada)) is the founder and CEO of American Apparel, a clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer which he started at age 20.

Quotes

• 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)

• 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)

• 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)

• 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)

• 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 Dov Charney

• 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)

External links

• Official American Apparel website
• The New Rich - Dov Charney, website recap from the 20/20 episode from July 31, 2006
• "Sexy marketing or sexual harassment?", recap of the Dateline NBC episode from July 28, 2006
• "Dov Charney, Like It or Not", from Inc. magazine (September 2005)
• "Mr. No Logo", interview from montrealmirror.com