Dov Charney

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Dov Charney is the CEO of the garment company American Apparel (AA), which employed about 5,000 people in 2005. AA now has over 125 retail outlets with plans of expansion.

Dov Charney was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec to Jewish Canadian parents, although he considers himself to be an atheist.^[1] In addition to his business exploits, Dov Charney is also a libertine, and active advocate of free speech and freedom of expression.

Charney is a controversial figure, having had numerous sexual relationships with employees and having masturbated several times in front of a reporter during the course of a two-month-long Jane magazine interview. ^[2] In 2005 three former employees filed sexual harassment suits against him. ^[3] He is also accused of conducting job interviews in his underwear and giving employees vibrators. ^[4]

Charney attended Tufts University, but left the school before graduating. He started an apparel company in 1989 in Columbia, South Carolina, but the business went bankrupt in 1996. He founded the new version of American Apparel in 1998. ^[5]

His uncle is the Israeli architect Moshe Safdie.^[1]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Ellenson, Ruth (2005). "Unfashionable Crisis" The Jewish Journal (accessed August 8, 2006)
2. ^ http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_26/b3939108_mz017.htm#1
3. ^ http://www.clamormagazine.org/issues/38/aa/williams.php
4. ^ Navarro, Mireya (July 10, 2005), The New York Times. His Way Meets a Highway Called Court
5. ^ http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_26/b3939108_mz017.htm#2

[edit] External links

• Official American Apparel website
• The New Rich - Dov Charney, webiste recap from the 20/20 episode from July 31, 2006
• Sexy marketing or sexual harassment?, recap of the Dateline NBC episode from July 28, 2006
• "Dov Charney, Like It or Not", from Inc. magazine (September 2005)
• "Mr. No Logo", interview from montrealmirror.com
• Jewlicious.com post on Dov Charney
• American Apparel profile at Knowmore.org
• "Who's Your Daddy?" article from Clamor Magazine