Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this article:
- In 2014, Dov Charney was ousted as CEO of American Apparel amid a workplace harassment scandal.
- Today, the entrepreneur remains in the clothing industry and has worked with a famous rapper’s apparel brand.
- Charney has encountered legal, financial, and business struggles amid his reinvention.
Within two decades of American Apparel’s creation in 1989, founder Dov Charney molded the company from a small start-up wholesaler into one of the world’s edgiest clothing brands. However, as former employees have alleged, the founder’s unscrupulous methods caused irreparable harm to workers, the company, and Charney, himself.
Charney’s tumultuous reign over the American-made fashion brand is examined in Trainwreck: Cult of American Apparel. The documentary, which is now streaming on Netflix, examines the former company CEO’s meteoric rise and rapid fall, precipitated by allegations of personal misconduct and mistreatment of employees.
In December 2014, the American Apparel board of directors fired Charney and announced Paula Schneider as his replacement. The company’s public stance was that he had violated sexual harassment and anti-discrimination policies, in addition to misusing corporate assets.
Despite the scandal, Charney remains in the clothing industry today (American Apparel is still around, too). Here’s what we know about where Dov Charney is now.
Charney sued American Apparel
American Apparel’s dramatic change in leadership helped set off a series of litigation, including bankruptcy proceedings in 2015 and 2016 and multiple lawsuits from Charney.
In May 2015, Charney filed a defamation lawsuit against American Apparel parent company Standard General seeking $30 million in damages. According to Forbes, he alleged the hedge fund carried out a “coup d’etat” and “sham investigation” to prompt his removal. Weeks later in June, Charney filed an additional complaint accusing company executives and Standard General of fraud and conspiracy. He sought $100 million in damages and the restoration of his surrendered stock in the company.
In an effort to halt lawsuits from Charney, American Apparel filed its own court documents in June 2015 with details of his alleged conduct. According to The Los Angeles Times, the company claimed Charney used ethnic slurs—referring to some employees as “Filipino pigs”—sent sexually graphic messages to other workers, and stored footage of himself having sex with models and employees on company equipment.
Charney’s attorneys denied all the allegations, while the company claimed the evidence showed his firing was for good cause. The entrepreneur has never been found guilty of sexual harassment in court. After five former employees filed lawsuits in 2011, a judge cleared three cases, and two others went to arbitration.
Ultimately, Charney’s litigation was unsuccessful. A judge rejected his attempt to buy American Apparel out of bankruptcy for $300 million in 2016, and his defamation suit was dismissed in March 2017. (That same year, Canadian company Gildan Activewear, which oversees brands such as Goldtoe socks and Comfort Colors, acquired American Apparel for $88 million.)
“Usually there’s a winner and a loser with these things, but no one made money here. There are only losers—like the shareholders, myself, the workers, thousands of them fired, the suppliers,” Charney told Los Angeles Magazine in February 2017. “And now they keep their foot on my throat because, God forbid, I should survive to tell the story.”
Charney founded another clothing brand
Amid his legal turmoil, Charney didn’t stay out of the clothing game for long. He founded Los Angeles Apparel in late 2016. Based in a Los Angeles warehouse only 4 miles from the former headquarters of American Apparel, the company launched as a wholesale brand selling blank T-shits and other essentials. It has since expanded to swimwear, activewear, hats, and other accessories. Like Charney’s former company, its goods are made in the United States.
Los Angeles Apparel even attracted a celebrity partner in rapper Kanye West, as the company has manufactured items for his Yeezy clothing line for some time. In 2023, Rolling Stone reported that West had consulted Charney for major decisions within the brand.
However, workplace conditions at the company have been scrutinized—particularly at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. At least 375 Los Angeles Apparel employees contracted COVID-19 during the summer of 2020, and four workers died. As a result of the outbreak, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health forced the garment manufacturer to temporarily shut down operations that June. Los Angeles Apparel reopened the following month.
The brand’s image has seemingly recovered, and Los Angeles Apparel continues to expand. The company announced in May 2025 it will broaden its geographic footprint by opening a store in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood sometime this summer.
Charney filed for bankruptcy
Charney has continued to battle financial woes. In March 2022, he filed for bankruptcy for himself and his clothing store, Arya’s Vintage Closet. According to Bloomberg, his assets and debts were as much as $50 million each.
Despite these troubles, Charney has remained a notable figure in garment manufacturing and distribution. As of 2024, he has regularly given a state of the industry address at Impressions Expo Long Beach, a decorated apparel trade show and conference in California.
Despite his prior assertion his American Apparel firing was an elaborate plot, Charney will likely never escape the fallout of the saga. It remains to be seen if the new documentary will allege any further details about his tenure at the company.
Watch Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel on Netflix
Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel dropped Tuesday, July 1, on Netflix. Charney hasn’t said anything publicly about the new documentary.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
