Dov Charney Is In Denial
LatestAmerican Apparel is in quite the pickle: its sales have now been in steep decline for over two years, it lost $86 million last year, owes over $140 million to various banks, and it warned that Chapter 11 bankruptcy and liquidation was a looming possibility in an SEC filing on Thursday. The company has around $5 million cash on hand, otherwise known in retail as no fucking money. If it cannot find new financing by April 30, bankruptcy is likely. “Without an additional injection of cash, the company is done. Somebody has to write a check,” says one New York investment banker. But Dov Charney, naturally, is having none of this. When asked about the prospect of bankruptcy — which, again, his own company admitted just days ago was a likelihood in the event that no new sources of cash materialize in the next three weeks — Charney said, “In my opinion, there’s no chance of that. That’s not an option we are going to explore. We have a variety of options. We could do a private placement of stock. Or we could use the resources we have. We do $10 million a week in sales.” Lion Capital, American Apparel’s chief lender, seems more sanguine about the prospect of Chapter 11. “If they do file, I feel okay. I believe the brand has a lot of value, and it’s more than what they owe me,” says Lion founding partner Lyndon Lea. [WWD]
The pink Chanel-style suit Katie Holmes wears in The Kennedys was actually made by…Armani. [Telegraph]
Complex made this fun listicle of the 50 worst fashion fails in music history. It includes the Stones on the cover of Dirty Work, David Lee Roth wearing chaps, and Axl Rose‘s cornrows. [Complex]
Kelly Cutrone‘s new book, Normal Gets You Nowhere, has a cover and a release date: May 3. [WWD]
- Aerin Lauder, senior vice-president and creative director of Estée Lauder cosmetics, is leaving the company to found her own “lifestyle” brand, à la Tory Burch. She’s tapped Anna Wintour for advice and taken on NBC’s Jeff Zucker as a consultant. Lauder will probably still consult for Estée Lauder. [NYPost]
- Heidi Klum says Victoria Beckham‘s kids are extremely well-behaved. “Victoria needs no advice — she has best behaved kids in the world. When we all go their birthday parties, each of the kids writes handwritten thank-you notes on their own headed notepaper. They’re so polite and well-spoken, it’s amazing. The other parents stand there in awe listening to the boys speaking so politely and correctly.” [Vogue UK]
- Rie Rasmussen — the model and film-maker who had the guts to tell Terry Richardson exactly what she thought about his little sexual-harassment habit, at which point he sputtered and ran away — has signed Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani‘s bizarre petition against pro-ana websites. But the irony of a fashion magazine taking a stand against pro-ana websites, many of which recycle fashion imagery as “thinspiration,” has not escaped Rasmussen, who says: “I just came from the shows in Paris and the insectile, emaciated models are not happy, so for women to look at a photo of them and think ‘I want to look like that’ is like comparing yourself to a fictional character. It’s impossible to achieve and sadly many of the models are victims themselves. It’s great photography, great hair, great make up, great styling and phenomenal air brushing.” [Vogue Italia]
- Cecilia Cassinia, the walking, talking, designing, 11-year-old neon sign of a culture in deep decline, is getting a reality show. Of course. [WWD]
- Mr. Kate Moss, Jamie Hince, on John Galliano: “I haven’t seen the video, and I don’t even know John that well, but I feel like people have got to see reason here. John has a problem with alcohol, and the reality is that when we’re in trouble, and that’s all of us, we say the most violent, cursed things…You can judge them on the stupid words they said — which I think were stupid, I hope that goes without saying — or you can dig a bit deeper and you can try and find out what the problem is. And I think it’s obvious that it’s alcohol. People are trying to say those are his politics. ‘I love Hitler’ — that’s not political, that’s somebody in trouble.” [Vogue UK]
- Charlotte Ronson, Vena Cava, Costello Tagliapietra, Zechia, Tiny Dinosaur, Suzuki Takayuki, Theatre Products, Nine and Double Standard Clothing are all doing capsule collections for Uniqlo this summer. Each collection comprises six items, all priced at $29.99. [WWD]
- Japan’s retail sector has naturally been hit hard by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. Uniqlo, Takashimaya and Itsetan Mitsukoshi all saw double-digit sales declines in March. [WWD]
- Vivienne Westwood has won a trademark infingement lawsuit against a London clothier who used some of her graphic designs on t-shirts. [Express]
- This may shock you, but a mass-market chain named “Zara” has seemingly taken “inspiration” from a designer collection that retails for many thousands of dollars under the brand “Prada.” Certain key details, like colors, were changed — quite as though Zara wanted to skirt the very edges of legality while still allowing fashion followers who can spot the differences to feel superior! [Fashionista]
- Anna Dello Russo has written a definitive top ten rules of attending the Met Ball, a.k.a. the Oscars of fashion, should you ever find yourself in a position to attend. These include “Opt for the HAUTE COUTURE. You only live once!” [ADR]
- The Guardian thinks cigarettes are fashionable again. As far as fashion’s concerned, when were they ever not? [Guardian]
- Urban Outfitters is warning that its same-store sales for the first quarter will be “low single-digits” negative. [WWD]
- Someone at Fairchild must be smoking some strong stuff. A Style.com print spin-off is in the works. Of all the logical ways to extend that “brand,” the two floated so far — a reality-television show that seems to have been proven dead on arrival, and a dead-tree magazine — are just downright dumb. [AdWeek]
- Robert Clergerie, which had been owned by its founder, was just acquired by sourcing giants Li & Fung‘s Fung Capital and investor Jean-Marc Loubier. We hope they don’t mess with the shoes. [WWD]
- If dressing like Kate Middleton is your thing, a blouse she once wore is back in stock. Headline news, people. [Telegraph]