The NSFW History of American Apparel’s Ads

Update, 8/19/16: Despite declaring bankruptcy and ceding ownership to its former creditors, industry site Business of Fashion reports that American Apparel is still having a rough go of it. Sources familiar with the matter claim that investment bank Houlihan Lokey Inc. has been hired to explore a sale after the company failed to reverse a string of losses.

It’s more bad news for a company that’s dealt with a lot if over the course of the last year. So, just like we did when news of the bankruptcy first hit, let’s take a look back at the glory days. The porny days. The whole NSFW history of American Apparel’s egregiously over-sexualized advertising.

Original, 10/5/15: American Apparel’s finances have been in a death spiral for a while now. The company lost $340 million in the last five years, and another $45 million this year, thanks in part to the fact that its core customers are more apt to buy a new gadget than a T-shirt. And aside from sitting on a massive amount of debt, it’s been embroiled in numerous lawsuits, ousted and then battled its notoriously raunchy CEO Dov Charney in court, and was only able to bring about 20 percent of fall merchandise to stores due to a lack of funding. Things haven’t looked good in a long time.

Which is why, today, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see The New York Times report that American Apparel is declaring bankruptcy. Still, the company is down, not out: It’ll keep its manufacturing center in Los Angeles and its 130 U.S. stores open. And, presumably, it’ll still keep churning out advertising, though perhaps of a more subtle sort than its controversial, often-NSFW ads of days past.

So, on this dark day, we look back up the T&A-filled world of American Apparel and reflect. From the tame stuff of the mid ’90s all the way up to the pornified fare of the last few years, here it is. Enjoy.