gmtPLUS09 | live from Seoul

Well, what do you know?  Grant McCracken’s annals of branding reveals American Apparel really is American. And everything else is true:

• Made in LA
• Sweatshop Free
• Brand-free clothes

But here are the reasons why this non-brand stood out as a plausible imitator with crafty ways.

The claims that American Apparel’s clothing are Made in LA and are free of sweatshops, it causes some suspicions and questions arise about the integrity of this brand. LA isn’t known for manufacturing apparel and operating costs in that area would seem unviable. And for American Apparel to even mention about sweatshops, arouses suspicion because there are no sweatshops in LA.

From a glimpse the Made in LA and Sweatshop Free claims appear to be a sad marketing ploy to get people into the store.

You see in Gangnam (southern district of Seoul) where the young and the hip congregate, many of these trendsetters and seekers have insatiable appetite for Western pop culture, fashion, and values. Because of this, many shady characters have set up shop claiming authentic American fashion trends, cheapened American experiences, and false advertising. Some have even ‘benchmarked’ everything from the Gap’s interior/retail space to the very buttons on shirts from American Eagle. The Korean brands that have benchmarked and profited largely on so-called American experiences are the Gap rip-off Giordiano, Polham (pronounced similar "Paul Hamm", the US Gold Medalist - Athens Summer Olympic), and Who Are You (an Abercrombie knock-off, with ‘offices’ in LA).

Therefore, it would be easy for anyone in this context, like myself to misinterpret American Apparel’s integrity and good intentions.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 29th, 2005 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Branding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.