30 is the new black

US clothing retailer American Apparel has been accused of using pornographic images to sell their clothes.

It didn’t take long to find examples of the images that are in question such as the landing page for their lingerie line.

American Apparel use ‘Lolita’ imagery and use models that look like teenagers to promote their clothing. Sexual imagery is used to sell the obvious ie lingerie but also innocuous items such as scarves and t-shirts.

Don’t take my word for it. Check out the images below and make sure you pay special attention to the slideshows and more views. This is where it gets really interesting:
http://store.americanapparel.com.au/rsasd400gw.html
http://store.americanapparel.com.au/rsa8336.html
http://store.americanapparel.com.au/rsaskth1.html
http://store.americanapparel.com.au/6401w.html

This is not the first time that the company has come under fire. Since launching the label in 1997, Mr Dov Charney, the founder of the company, has been the subject of four sexual harassment lawsuits brought by former employees. None have been proven in court.

In 2004, an article in the now-defunct US women’s magazine, Jane, accused Mr Charney of masturbating in front of the reporter. He has never denied the allegation but said it was “consensual.”

The concept of sex used in advertising has long been utilised by designers such as Calvin Klein infamous campaign with Kate Moss and Mark Wahlberg but the latest Calvin Klein campaign depicting a threesome seems like the desperate act of an aging designer who lost his touch.

One has to question why American Apparel would use provocative images of women to sell clothes to women. All Mr Charney seems to be is a dirty old man using his power and influence who gets his kicks out of exploiting young women.

So does sex still sell or have consumers become bored by the use of sexualised images to sell clothing? Is the financial crisis forcing companies to use these more of these tactics to lure buyers or have consumers simply becoming smarter and choosing quality over quantity?

That’s the funny thing about consumers. If you’re going to use a provocative campaign to sell products, you need the quality merchandise to back it up. I’d suggest that Mr Charney would be better off focusing his efforts on producing better quality garments and using superior materials to create his clothing line.

You can choose to boycott the store as I have and/or voice your complaints via the Advertising Standards Bureau.