This Netflix documentary charts the rise and fall of American Apparel

In an infamous 2004 interview with Jane magazine, Dov Charney, the founder of American Apparel, pleasures himself in the presence of a young female journalist, telling her: “Masturbation in front of women is underrated.” If that’s how Charney, a Canadian entrepreneur, behaved on the record, then how was he treating his junior workers behind closed doors? A clue might be within the article: he tells the reporter that he adores oral sex, and so he brings in a female employee to help him with a demonstration.

Launched by Charney in his dorm room in 1989, American Apparel was, in the 2000s, everywhere. Essentially indie sleaze at its sleaziest, the fashion brand built its identity around sex: more horny than normie. The advertisements verged on softcore pornography: young models, many photographed by Charney himself, with their legs spread, accompanied by captions like “SCHOOL’S OUT”. For a while, it worked. In 2007, the clothing company was valued at around $1 billion. Then, in 2014, Charney was ousted as CEO for alleged sexual misconduct and misuse of funds. In 2015, the company filed for bankruptcy.

In a new Netflix documentary, Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel, the fashion brand’s collapse and fall is explored with first-hand accounts of Charney’s abusive behaviour, archive footage of Charney bullying his workers, and a collection of accusations that were initially dismissed and sent to confidential arbitration. In a leaked text, Charney writes to a staff member, “Your ass is the perfect cum target”; in a video, Charney walks around the office naked in front of female employees.

“For so many people of my generation, American Apparel was a fundamental part of their upbringing,” says Georgia Jasper, a producer on the film, on a video call to Dazed. “Others won’t know anything about the story.” Jasper was a development producer on the Trainwreck series – other releases include Trainwreck: Poop Cruise and Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem – but honed in on the American Apparel chapter. “I remember, it was all over here in London, on Oxford Street, and it’s like it went overnight.”

A magnetic speaker, Charney established that American Apparel wouldn’t be an ordinary clothing company. In an archive TV interview – Charney doesn’t masturbate in this one – he tells the reporter, “This is basically the pitch: it’s t-shirts that look good, t-shirts that feel good, and t-shirts that are made in a non-exploitative setting.” The items were manufactured in the US, workers were paid above minimum wage, and they captured the zeitgeist. Jonny, a former employee, reveals that the store would sometimes shut so that Beyoncé could shop in private.

“Things were made ethically, which we know is really rare in the fashion world, unfortunately,” says Jasper, referring to the trend of using cheap labour overseas. “It was wrapped up in this fun, sexy image. We take body positivity for granted now, but, back then, every other advert was an airbrushed, manicured model. In these adverts, they’re, of course, beautiful girls, but they’re quite normal girls. They’re normal sized. They weren’t plucking their eyebrows. They maybe had razor-burn.”

The goal is to give an inside look at what that company was really like, through the people who lived it

In fact, several of the doc’s first-hand accounts espouse on the initial thrill of working at American Apparel. As the job required gruelling hours, close friendships formed, and Carson, a former Mormon, wonders in hindsight if he simply switched cults. Jonny even moved into Charney’s home, which he dubs “the Playboy Mansion for hipsters”. However, Carson also recalls receiving a phone call in the middle night with Charney yelling, “I fucking hate you,” before hanging up, which he deems “a regular day at American Apparel”. Jonny also remarks: “I’ll probably be in therapy until the day that I die.”

“There’s a version of the documentary where you pay journalists to sit there and regurgitate facts and what’s known in the public domain,” says Jasper. “But the best version is the story being told by first-hand accounts. My first job was finding those people.” She explains that conversations were held with a wide variety of figures, many of whom aren’t seen in the documentary. She noted that their experiences with Charney often aligned. “There’s so much we couldn’t bring to screen. But I’m excited for audiences to do their own research.”

It wasn’t until 2014 when Charney was removed as CEO. By then, rumours and lawsuits had been piling up for years. It was reported that he had been caught storing videos of himself having sex with employees and models on company equipment; he allegedly sent texts to staff like “I want baby girl drooooool all over my cock”. Charney denied the charges. “Dov was one of the first people we reached out to when researching this film,” says Jasper. “But he declined to participate.” Has he seen the film? “Um… you’d have to ask him. I’m not sure.”

When employees joined American Apparel, they had to sign a confidentiality agreement, not realising that wasn’t the norm: if they filed a complaint against the company or Charney, they’d have to go to arbitration, waiving their right to a jury. Charney has, to this day, not faced a public court. However, some allegations entered the public domain. In the film, voice actors recite first-person descriptions of being sexually harassed and attacked by Charney. One example: “He took me to the bedroom, got on top of me, and I almost suffocated from him forcing me to perform another sexual act.”

“It’s important to say that Dov publicly denies these allegations happened,” says Jasper. “But because the allegations are so integral to the fall of the company, it’s something we really wanted to address. Those people who brought forward the allegations legally cannot speak to this day. How do we put them into a visual medium? I felt like it’d be incredibly crass to re-enact any of those things that are outlined. It’s to hold space in the film, for them to be given some time.”

It’s later revealed that Charney went on to form Los Angeles Apparel and was hired by Kanye West to be the CEO of Yeezy. Jasper explains that the briefness is because it’s Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel, not Trainwreck: Dov Charney. Is there hope that the film will inspire legal action against Charney? “The goal is to give an inside look at what that company was really like, through the people who lived it… The viewers can make their own mind up.”

As for what separates a newspaper long-read from a Netflix documentary, Jasper tells me that, in print, words can be twisted, but, in her film, viewers spot the facial expressions on interviewees as they remember incidents. “You hear the tone of their voice,” she says. “You see footage from inside the factory. It gives audiences a more immersive experience.” She adds: “I hope people can appreciate how brave our contributors have been to give a first-hand account of something like this. Because a lot of people didn’t want to.”

Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel is streaming on Netflix now.