When in "Rome" Get a T Shirt
The last stop worth noting on my Las Vegas retail tour was the Forum Shops at Caesars. Like all my stops except for the Fashion Show mall, these shops hock luxury brands, and you can cover almost every major player plus smaller fringe-y favorites in this one single stop. Unlike the tiny Wynn and the work-in-process Venetian-Palazzo, Caesars has my favorite designers Christian Lacroix and Dolce and Gabbana. Versace and everyone else is there, too.
Not all of Caesars is in the 4+ digit range. People on a budget will be interested in American Apparel. I know I was. I picked up a black mini skirt and my friend picked up a hoodie. Then we went over to Sushi Roku next door to replenish ourselves after Caesars' sensory overload.
It was at Sushi Roku where we discussed what American Apparel meant by its "Vertically Integrated Manufacturing". This means the company doesn't outsource its production, everything happens under one roof - knit, dye, design, cut, sew, advertise, market, ship. Everything takes place in a seven-story pink warehouse in downtown LA. My fashion industry cohorts sniffed between sips of champagne, doubting the company holds 100% true to this model.
I am a believer in American Apparel, though. Everything there is a tshirt, or a variation on the underwear theme - some people call these "Basics." Indeed, the design of these items are basic, and zero technical designers are needed for American Apparel styles. Thats' why its possible for them to vertically integrate in downtown LA.
"The problem is there's no standardization in apparel," says Dov Charney, the founder and CEO of American Apparel. The fashion industry changes styles every three months, he says, giving artists and designers too much freedom and flexibility. And as long as apparel producers keep churning out new product lines, the industry will continue to depend on a subcontracting model. "We keep feeding consumers these ridiculous choices," Charney says. "But it's on the backs of inhumane labor."
The company does plan to go global, opening plants in China and India to start. They say product manufactured in those plants will be sold locally. I predict incredible success - American brand cache around casual classics popularized by the iconic rebels, athletes and go-go girls of the American 1950's and 1960's. And these basics have proven staying power - just look in your bureau, and the bureaus of everyone you know, fashionable or not. Cant miss with that.
Not all of Caesars is in the 4+ digit range. People on a budget will be interested in American Apparel. I know I was. I picked up a black mini skirt and my friend picked up a hoodie. Then we went over to Sushi Roku next door to replenish ourselves after Caesars' sensory overload.
It was at Sushi Roku where we discussed what American Apparel meant by its "Vertically Integrated Manufacturing". This means the company doesn't outsource its production, everything happens under one roof - knit, dye, design, cut, sew, advertise, market, ship. Everything takes place in a seven-story pink warehouse in downtown LA. My fashion industry cohorts sniffed between sips of champagne, doubting the company holds 100% true to this model.
I am a believer in American Apparel, though. Everything there is a tshirt, or a variation on the underwear theme - some people call these "Basics." Indeed, the design of these items are basic, and zero technical designers are needed for American Apparel styles. Thats' why its possible for them to vertically integrate in downtown LA.
"The problem is there's no standardization in apparel," says Dov Charney, the founder and CEO of American Apparel. The fashion industry changes styles every three months, he says, giving artists and designers too much freedom and flexibility. And as long as apparel producers keep churning out new product lines, the industry will continue to depend on a subcontracting model. "We keep feeding consumers these ridiculous choices," Charney says. "But it's on the backs of inhumane labor."
The company does plan to go global, opening plants in China and India to start. They say product manufactured in those plants will be sold locally. I predict incredible success - American brand cache around casual classics popularized by the iconic rebels, athletes and go-go girls of the American 1950's and 1960's. And these basics have proven staying power - just look in your bureau, and the bureaus of everyone you know, fashionable or not. Cant miss with that.