Dov Charney ~ Stock Market

Early life Charney s father Morris Charney is an architect and his mother Sylvia Safdie an artist Both of his parents are of Jewish descent He is the nephew of noted architect Moshe Safdie Charney attended Choate Rosemary Hall a private boarding school in Connecticut and St George s School of Montreal Charney grew up with and was influenced heavily by the culture of Montreal As a teenager he fell in love with the United States due to its sharp contrast between Canadian culture and American culture As a teenager Charney was an admirer of American made products As a teen he became disillusioned with Quebec nationalism which was widespread during the 1980s In interviews he has stated that he considers himself to be a continuation of the trend of Canadian Jewish entrepreneurs At an early age Charney showed signs of an entrepreneurial and independent spirit In 1980 The Canadian Jewish News published a story on Charney with a headline that read 11 Year Old Schoolboy Edits His Own Newspaper As a child Dov was featured in the documentary 20th Century Chocolate Cake discussing the economics of a summer camp he attended Entrepreneur Charney s ventures were conceived in high school when he began importing Hanes and Fruit of the Loom T shirts across the border to Canadian friends At Choate he claims to have shipped as many as 10 000 shirts at a time using a rented U Haul truck to transport the goods In 1987 he enrolled at Tufts University While at Tufts he continued to operate his business but dropped out by 1990 to pursue business full time He is wrongfully listed as a graduate since he did not receive a degree He borrowed 10 000 from his father and moved to South Carolina to transition from importing T shirts to manufacturing them In 1996 Charney s company restructured when it was unable to cover its debt and filed for Chapter 11 On July 4 1997 he went to Los Angeles By 2003 Charney had opened his first retail store and employed over 1 300 people In 2004 he was named Ernst Young s Entrepreneur of the Year and Apparel Magazine s Man of the Year American Apparel Main article American Apparel Building the brand In 1991 Charney began making basic T shirts under the American Apparel brand The initial T shirts were made of simple 18 single jersey and were positioned to compete with the Hanes Beefy T citation needed The primary market objective was to sell garments to screen printers and wholesale clothiers in the United States and Canada In 1997 as his design the Classic Girl built momentum Charney transitioned manufacturing to Los Angeles In 2000 American Apparel moved into its current 800 000 sq ft 74 000 m2 factory located in downtown Los Angeles Role as Manufacturer Retailer CEO Charney is officially founder CEO of American Apparel but goes by the title of Senior Partner He infused his personal progressive politics into the company brand paying factory workers between 1318USD hr offering low cost full family healthcare for employees and taking a company position on immigration reform Workers are also allowed free international phone calls during work hours He claims to do this not for moral reasons but because it is a better business strategy He makes all product development and creative hiring decisions himself Under Charney American Apparel instituted team manufacturing which pools the strongest workers towards priority orders After its implementation garment production tripled and required a less than 20 staff increase He formed the company as a domestic vertically integrated manufacturer making him the largest manufacturer still producing garments in America Initially American Apparel was a wholesale brand but in 2003 it expanded into the retail market Its first stores were in Montreal New York City and Los Angeles Retail operations have grown to include 260 retail stores In 2008 he was named Retailer of the Year Fashion Charney is known for his passion for clothing His fashion sense is geared towards young metropolitan adults The fit of a shirt is something he often stresses He was named Man of the Year by both the Fashion Industry Guild and Apparel Magazine for his design work In 2008 The Guardian named American Apparel Label of the Year Advertising and brand management Charney is directly involved in his company s design branding and advertising His print campaigns are award winning and among the most followed in the garment industry Charney has promoted a branding strategy that spotlighted his treatment of workers as a selling point for the company s merchandise promoting American Apparel s goods as sweatshop free A banner on top of the downtown factory states American Apparel is an Industrial Revolution The company is also known for its simple and provocative ads featuring girls and employees The subjects are rarely models and often chosen personally by Charney from local hangouts and stores He shoots many of the advertisements himself His advertising has been criticized for featuring young even teenage models in sexually provocative poses However it has also been lauded for honesty and lack of airbrushing In 2005 Charney won the Marketing Excellence Award in the LA Fashion Awards Annie Hall Billboard Lawsuit In May 2007 American Apparel posted two billboards in New York and Los Angeles featuring a still image of actor Woody Allen from his 1977 movie Annie Hall They were removed at Allen s request within a week he subsequently sued American Apparel on various grounds including rights to privacy and property rights According to Charney the billboard which featured a photo of Allen as an Orthodox rabbi and cheeky Yiddish text The High Rabbi was a commentary on the tabloid coverage he received from several unproven sexual harassment lawsuits and the way that he and Allen both Jews had been treated by the media In an article published in The Guardian he wrote There are no words to express the frustration caused by these gross misperceptions but this billboard was an attempt to at least make a joke about it American Apparel s insurance company settled the case for U S 5 million half of what Mr Allen was seeking in damages on the eve of trial Charney insisted that settlement was not his decision and expressed regret at being unable to defend in court what he believed to be speech protected by the First Amendment Company IPO and sale In December 2006 Charney entered into an agreement to sell American Apparel for 360 million to the special purpose acquisition company SPAC Endeavor Acquisition as a way of taking the company public As a result of the agreement Charney was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the publicly traded company known as American Apparel Inc He remained the majority shareholder and all full time employees of American Apparel were promised up to 500 shares of stock depending on length of employment Controversy Charney has been the subject of several sexual harassment lawsuits none of which were proven The company and others have publicly accused a lawyer representing a majority of the suits against American Apparel of extortion and of shaking the company down On the eve of trial in one case the plaintiff confessed that she had not been subjected to sexual harassment and agreed to go to an arbitration hearing aimed at clearing Dov Charney s name However the plaintiff failed to show up to the hearing and a ruling was unable to be reached As a result the settlement was dissolved and the matter reemerged as a negative media controversy for Charney In 2004 Claudine Ko of Jane magazine published a controversial essay narrating multiple sexual exchanges that occurred while spending time with Charney The article s publication brought extensive press to the company and Charney who later responded that he believed that the acts had been done consensually in private and outside the article s bounds References a b Dov Charney the hustler The Economist January 4 2007 http www economist com people displaystory cfm story_id 8486888 Retrieved 2008 03 21 Dov Charney The hustler and his American dream The Independent 23 December 2006 http www independent co uk news people dov charney the hustler and his american dream 429627 html Retrieved 2008 03 21 La Ferla Ruth November 3 2004 Building a Brand By Not Being a Brand New York Times http www nytimes com 2004 11 23 fashion 23DRES html oref login 8hpib Retrieved 2008 03 21 I think I was born a hustler said Mr Charney the fast talking founder of American Apparel the rapidly expanding youth oriented T shirt chain I like the hustle Hoffman Claire 20 December 2006 Clothier has designs on the world Los Angeles Times http www sagellc com index php page newsroom_in_press_disp_article id 32 Retrieved 2008 03 21 Evan Carmichael Be Contrarian Dov Charney YoungEntrepreneur com http www youngentrepreneur com blog 2008 03 11 be a contrarian dov charney Retrieved 2008 03 26 Joellen Perry 2004 05 16 Made in America U S News and World Report http www usnews com usnews biztech articles 040517 17made htm Retrieved 2007 11 27 Endevour Acquisitions Corp SEC Proxy Statement Schedule 14A June 5 2007 The Power Issue The West 100 Los Angeles Times August 13 2006 http www latimes com features magazine west la tm toppower33aug13 1 963835 htmlstory coll la headlines west Retrieved 2008 03 26 The 2009 Time 100 Finalists Dov Charney Jewish Journal Unfashionable Crisis 2005 07 29 a b Inc com s daily report on Dov Charney September 2005 Launch Box article and quotes from interview of Dov Charney 7 29 05 Silcoff Mireille A real shirt disturber Dov Charney conquered America with his fitted T shirts and posse of strippers Saturday Post http www debonairmag com an_interview_with_american_apparel_founder_dov_charney_ 2 htm Retrieved 2008 04 06 a b Haskell Kari September 18 2006 An Interview With American Apparel Founder Dov Charney Debonair Magazine http www debonairmag com an_interview_with_american_apparel_founder_dov_charney_ 2 htm Retrieved 2008 03 21 St George Alumni Silcoff Mireille via Lexis Nexis A real shirt disturber Dov Charney conquered America with his fitted T shirts and posse of strippers Saturday Post via Lexis Nexis Retrieved 2008 04 06 Silcoff Mireille via Lexis Nexis A real shirt disturber Dov Charney conquered America with his fitted T shirts and posse of strippers Saturday Post via Lexis Nexis Retrieved 2008 04 06 when he was 15 and had fallen in love with the U S in the way only a Canadian kid can because Americans had the freedom to choose from hundreds more kinds of sugar breakfast cereals than us Dov Charney 2007 American Apparel Don Charney Interview YouTube CBS News 3 30 Charney has long been an admirer there is something about American products Choate Bulletin Young Entrepreneurs increasingly suspect of Quebec nationalism and the sovereignty movement pervading the school system Silcoff Mireille via Lexis Nexis A real shirt disturber Dov Charney conquered America with his fitted T shirts and posse of strippers Saturday Post via Lexis Nexis Retrieved 2008 04 06 They were glove experts and I was a T shirt expert It made me really proud I m a shoemaker I m a bagel baker I m a T SHIRT MAKER it s just so f ing old school Jewish I thought I m revitalizing a tradition This is not something to be taken lightly 11 Year Old Schoolboy Edits His Own Newspaper pdf from DovCharney com Gawker Dov Enraged by Video of Kid Hustler Self Young Dov Blackbook A Niedler Alison August 2000 Angeleno Style Apparel News http www americanapparel net presscenter articles 2000800apparelnews html Retrieved 2008 03 21 Carmichael Evan Lesson 4 If You Can Dream It You Can Do It EvanCarmichael com http www evancarmichael com Famous Entrepreneurs 1699 Lesson 4 If You Can Dream It You Can Do It html Retrieved 2008 03 28 Dean Jason September 2005 Dov Charney Like It or Not Inc Magazine http www inc com magazine 20050901 american apparel html Retrieved 2008 03 21 Bracher Trisha December 21 2003 The T Shirt Empire Breaking the Rules The Observer http www guardian co uk business 2003 dec 21 fairtrade globalisation Retrieved 2008 03 21 he was too busy shifting product to actually complete his degree in American Studies Stossel John December 2 2005 Sexy Sweats Without the Sweatshop ABC News http abcnews go com 2020 Business story id 1362781 Retrieved 2008 03 21 The business went bankrupt and he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection DovCharney com My Name is Dov Charney Bracher Trisha December 21 2003 The T Shirt Empire Breaking the Rules The Observer http www guardian co uk business 2003 dec 21 fairtrade globalisation Retrieved 2008 03 21 With sales of 80 million this year which are expected to double next year it can afford to pay its 1 300 strong workforce Dov Charney 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year YouTube Ernst and Young http www youtube com watch v _b PW6Rurb0 feature related Fonda Daren October 29 2001 Bring It On Time Magazine http www time com time magazine article 0 9171 1001116 00 html Retrieved 2008 03 21 Segment of Modern Marvels Cotton The History Channel via AmericanApparel net http www americanapparel net gallery modernmarvels qt html Retrieved 2007 11 25 Charney Dov Letters American Apparel United The Nation http www thenation com doc 20040920 letter Retrieved 2008 03 26 a b c La Ferla Ruth November 3 2004 Building a Brand By Not Being a Brand New York Times http www nytimes com 2004 11 23 fashion 23DRES html oref login 8hpib Retrieved 2008 03 21 Palmeri Christopher 2005 06 27 Living on the Edge at American Apparel Businessweek http businessweek com magazine content 05_26 b3939108_mz017 htm Retrieved 2008 03 22 Dov Charney 2007 American Apparel Don Charney Interview YouTube CBS News 3 50 generous fringe benefits Walker Rob 2004 08 01 The Way We Live 8 1 04 Consumed Conscience Undercover New York Times http query nytimes com gst fullpage html res 9500E2DB133DF932A3575BC0A9629C8B63 Retrieved 2008 03 21 Dobbs Lou February 9 2004 Kerry on the Attack Putin Rival Disappears CNN http transcripts cnn com 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