Living On The Edge At American Apparel

Only a handful of chief executives appear in their own ads. Even fewer appear in them without any pants on. But Dov Charney, the 36-year-old in charge of hip clothing maker American Apparel Inc., is not your typical corporate chieftain. His sense of style -- evoking the seedy side of the disco era -- permeates the company's in-store experience and advertising, including one ad picturing his bare backside. It also carries through to the workplace: Charney feels free to engage in consensual sexual relationships with his staff. "I've had relationships, loving relationships, that I'm proud of," he says. "I think it's a First Amendment right to pursue one's affection for another human being."

Chances are you've never met an executive quite like Charney. The muttonchops-wearing entrepreneur has built American Apparel into a $250 million-a-year rising star of the rag trade, selling T-shirts, swimsuits, and underwear, all made at his downtown Los Angeles plant. Since November, 2003, when American Apparel opened its first store, 53 retail outlets in five countries have opened. Charney claims to have stores, such as one in Manhattan's Soho, that produce $1,800 a square foot in sales, seven times the apparel industry average. He talks of building a $1 billion-a-year business in a few years, with 1,000 locations. He even wants to open stores in Hong Kong, exporting -- of all things -- American-made T-shirts to China.