The MySpacification of Retail
I wandered through American Apparel yesterday snapping pictures. It’s kickass retailing all around. Mostly I was struck by how it comes off as an real-world sibling to MySpace, with the amateur snapshot photos of kids in underwear juxtaposed with random images of junk culture. If only MySpace would steal American Apparel’s typographic sensibilities then we’d really have some progress!
Putting aside the debate over whether the sexy photos are pornographic or not, American Apparel’s whole retail experience is engaging and relevant to a youth culture raised on LiveJournal and MySpace. It’s no wonder that its star is rising as the Gap, with its Wonder Bread branding, is hitting the skids.
Here’s the whole American Apparel set
February 5th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
Ya, but the weird part is that there’s not really much TO the clothes. It’s pretty much soft cotton basics in solid colors — some so simply sewn together that I feel confident that even I, sewing-impaired as I am, could duplicate them. But maybe that’s part of the appeal?
February 5th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
The cotton is super soft and thin–much nicer than that thick, brutish cotton used for cheap t-shirts. Also, it’s all made in Los Angeles, not Asian sweat shops. So it’s no surprise they’re a bit pricier than the Target swag you buy, Amy.
February 9th, 2006 at 12:14 am
Here’s a remote thread about this post:
http://words.grubbykid.com/2006/02/07/the_myspacification_of_american_apparel_retail.html