American Apparel Doesn’t Want ‘Trashy’ Black Girls With Straight Hair
The next time you’re in need of another pair of leggings, think twice before you go to American Apparel. The company’s discriminate hiring policies could fill your socks drawer.
Former employees wrote to Gawker giving us more reason to give the ‘all-American’ brand our fiercest side eye.
An American Apparel ex-manager was given specific instructions on the type of Black girl the company looks for during open casting calls:
“None of the trashy kind that come in, we don’t want that. we’re not trying to sell our clothes to them. Try to find some of these classy black girls, with nice hair, you know?”
For you natural hair undergrads looking to rock seemingly cool clothing for the coveted retail employee discount, it seems, surprisingly, American Apparel is looking for you.
“The other manager on the call with me later became a district manager, and at one point instructed me to tell two of my employees (both of whom happened to be black females) to stop straightening their hair. I refused to do this, but wondered if the mentality behind her request was related to what Dov had said.”
“Dov” is Dov Charney, the company’s eccentric owner and the mastermind behind the brand’s frequent soft porn ads. Seems Dov considers an afro ‘nice hair,’ and straight hair bad hair. This is a fascinating paradox for anyone remotely familiar with Black hair politics. A preference for natural hair could be considered progressive, but discriminating based on an employee’s hairstyle, or any other trait is never cool.
For more on American Apparel’s bizarre hiring practices, check out Gawker.
What do you think about the brand’s employee preferences? Share your thoughts with us!
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Wow, just wow…
so they don’t want “trashy” black girls huh? yet somehow… they’ll put out countless ads that are akin to Cinemax soft porn and this is what, classy? it’s laughable at best… I’m offended for my sisters with relaxed hair as well as those of us with natural hair. it seems as though the “mainstream” is always trying to put us in a neat little box for their own comfort, despite what we want and the beauty we maintain. it’s pathetic really and i’m disgusted by the “standards” held by AA. they don’t have to worry about me shopping there…
and th girls with relaxers in their hair are furious! i dont have a problem with hiring naturals-because i’m one of thm but putting trashy in front of it is just not right. so i can put in an application,be interviewed and giving the opportunity to be employed with my natural hair but as soon as i straighten it to “change it up” for one day i’m going against the american apparel “look”….child thas like a lawsuit waiting to happen!
I don’t really think anyone should be shopping at this store. Dov is a creep, the clothes are seriously overpriced and the ads are gross. The “trashy” black girl comment is so offensive it physically pains me. As if they had to single out black women specifically.
And the “don’t straighten” the hair comment? Please, that’s just about trends and fads. It’s very cutting edge now to have kinky hair. Hilarious how the hair you came into the world with can be a trend, but it is. They want girls who you look non-mainstream, hip and cool, blah blah blah, that’s what the natural hair means to them. However, I’m pretty sure by natural, they mean big soft curly fros. I’m sure he doesn’t want anyone with thick, tightly coiled kinky textured hair (probably considered a little too natural for them).
Ugh, the store just makes me cringe. Avoid it!
hell..i know tons of black women who are trashy..and have natural hair..
Who cares, every company has their own choice of who they prefer. Even in music videos there is always one type of women in the videos, long hair or weaves with light skin. Personally I really dont care. Everyone from dating to shopping, etc has their own preferences in what they like or don’t like geez…if you feel there is something wrong with people having their own preference then get a grip. Yes I am a black woman also.
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American Apparel ads are all some sexist crap. They don’t want a sista with straightened hair cos she’s “trashy”, but they’ll have a natural sista on a bed with her legs spread? So she’s supposed to be “classy”? Spare me this foolishness. (for the record I’m a natural head… I’m just not drinking the Kool Aid that there are “good” and “bad” black women based on a hairstyle)
they are also age discriminate – you can’t be over 22, even if you look sixteen; wtf?
if that’s what the owner wants, then it’s his line of clothing. That’s the look he enjoys. It’s not discriminating. Just like if you are female and u straighten your hair, you aren’t saying you’re embarassed to be female. You just like your hair better that way. So, the owner just likes his models better that way, he isn’t discriminating. The wording was rude but so is corporate america.
Only in America. When I was a teen in the 70′s and realized i would have to cut my hair to no longer than 2 inches to not have a natural that overtook the rest of me, i decided to keep it straight. Thus, I was unhip. Now, I am in my early 50′s and because other folks who are not me decided not only to have a weave but dye it fuchia, my relaxed-but-grown-from-my-own-head hair is unhip. Here is the truth: hip isn’t based on what you look like, it’s based on who you are on the inside. I look at how the corporate world tries to twist all of us into pretzels (not just women and not just blacks) to sell everything from toothpast to asprin, and at the end of the day it all reminds me of high school.
The fashion industry is supposedly concerned with being on the cutting edge
(no pun intended). The current fascination with natural black hair is merely a sign that bone straight perms, crazy colors, long weaves and wigs on black women is becoming quite the yarn. These styles have become so common they no longer illicit stares of disbelief or stop traffic.
The white dominated media will always dictate what is in and what is out.
The afro and dreadlocks began as symbols of black self acceptance and our connection to Africa.
Then they were co-opted by Hollyweird and they became associated with pimps, pushers and hoes(note the wide open legs in Amerikkkan Apparel ad).
Bone straight started out as a symbol of black assimilation and upward mobility.
Now it is associated with video hoochie mommas, lack of cultural awareness or self hatred.
Stop letting these “black fashion” rags dictate that your natural hair is in or out of style. When you rock bone straight you are paying homage to the white women and she mocks you. Come home Black queens. Stop using the terms good and bad hair. Your daughters are listening. On youtube you will find sisters demonstrating how to care for and manage your hair in it’s natural state. Peace and Love.
Wow….I really think it’s interesting that the manager thought that natural hair is good and that straightened hair is bad. Oh the irony…..considering that many black people find that their own natural hair is bad and that straight hair is better or more acceptable.
Either way discriminating against someone because of their hairstyle choice is just as bad as being discriminated against for any other reason.
Oh and I also think it’s ironic how they say they don’t want trashy black girls with straight hair yet they have a trashy looking black girl with natural hair with her legs spread wide open. The hypocrisy in that company…..
Its really sad how people discriminate over skin tone, race, hair etc its unnecessary on so many levels. Whether a black woman has relaxed hair or natural hair it shouldn’t label them better than someone else and definitely not “trashy” it is her choice if she decides to relax her hair and who is anyone to tell her she can’t perm her hair or wear a weave? Its a persons CHOICE. As an African-American woman we are powerful and Beautiful we don’t need relaxers or weaves or wigs we are Fabulous and damn sexy with or without it
100% agree with you.
American Apparel…..LOL. There are just so many companies I just would not shop at. In fact, if it wasn’t for the drama created by this article and another I read on another site a few months back, I think I had only heard about them once or twice before that. Besides, their clothes look like something I can buy in the market much cheaper (just been to their website). Their clothes don’t even stand out and they making noise….LOL
Also, what business is it of Amercan Apparel to dictate whether a person straightens their hair? That’s like a black employer saying that they won’t hire a white woman because she has curly hair or a perm….How ridiculous does that sound?
Besides, isn’t that racism right there? Discriminating about someone’s hair. I think that as long as the person is neat, tidy and presentable, then that’s a good thing.
I remember one time I went to a Graduate fair, this cute mixed guy was walking alongside me, he was dressed in a sharp suit and looked really smart, however, the first thing you noticed about this guy was a HUGE big brown lion afro that he had, it really was very big. This kind of hairstyle was great for a modelling or acting type job, but at a Graduate fair, I think he needed to get it plaited or something. The woman that we both spoke to thought we were together and she was talking to us both about the hair. She was very polite, nice and respectful, but frank about it and the guy understood her point. That really was funny though.
Anyway, you are spending your money at these companies and they have no respect whatsoever. When I go into a shop to spend my money and get bad treatment I always speak to them about it, customer service is the key to success!
I was in a shop with a friend recently and the guy serving chose to ignore us for about 10 minutes, shuffling around and doing everything but serve us, we just wanted to get a quick bite to eat and leave.
Some companies like to take their customers and staff for granted and that’s how they lose custom, unfortunately.
This article has it backwards, the speaker of these quotes didn’t have a preference for natural textured black hair over straight hair. And the quotes weren’t spoken in conjuction with each other they were two different situations.
The first quote give no clues as to what the speaker means by ‘nice hair.’
As for the second quote: the command to stop straightening was to see if their hair was still curly/wavy/straight like a white/latina/asian girl’s hair would be without extra styling.
Tightly curled afro hair was not the preference of the speaker, he means hair that will make people will think she’s mixed.
This isn’t a paradox it’s just your everyday racist discrimination.
@Kai: Um I’ll give you that the quote may have been SLIGHTLY out of context but that doesn’t get him a get free out of jail card. He could have simply said “that’s not the look we’re looking for” but instead he chose the word that started the whole fire which was “the trashy kind” sure the truth may have been stretched a bit But it doesn’t justify the statements quoted regardless of how Vague it may have been but I see it as a Completely Bias and Racist Remark don’t you?
@Kai I see what you are saying about the context in which the quotes were given. Although that is an assumption on your part, I can see your point of view.
But I just have to say that if they were looking at the hair texture to see if it was “nice” how would the manager know what is “nice” hair? I don’t know if the manager is white or black or another race….but in white mainstream the ideal is straight hair so even if the person was latina, mixed, or ambiguous, the hair type, curly most often, is not the ideal for any race. It doesn’t matter if it is tightly coiled or big loose curls. I say all that to say that they do have a preference for textured/curly/coily hair…..but then again with the few quotes in this article it’s hard to make a definite judgment.
In my opinion, American Apparel is overly expensive anyway for the quality/look of their clothes.
I’m surprised to see natural preferred over straight by a professional company. I’m natural and I’m glad they respect our hair (Who else does?!), but they should not be calling straight-haired girls trashy. Wow.