American Apparel Brand Book

AMERICAN 

apparel 

INTRODUCTION | REBRANDING AMERICAN APPAREL | PAGE 

1

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apparel 

AMERICAN 

By Josie Amor

Table of Contents: 

2-3 Introduction 

4-11 Research 

–Branding Promise 

–Branding Pillars 

–Vision 

–Audience 

–History 

–Current Positioning Statement/ Tag Line 

–SWOT Analysis 

–ZAG Analysis 

–Competition Comparative Analysis 

–Competition Brand Identity Comparative Analysis 

–Brand Photo Elicitation 

One 

Two 

Three 

12-14 Rebranding Strategy 

–Current Strategy 

–Proposed Strategy 

15-24 Creative Outcomes 

–Proposed New Brand Identity 

Brand Identity Classification 

–Typography 

Primary Brand Identity Typography 

Expanded Brand Typography Selection 

–Color Palette 

Primary Brand Identity Palette 

Expanded Brand Palette 

–Touchpoints 

Brand Identity Applications 

EGD 

Point of Purchase 

Traditional Advertising 

Non-traditional Advertising 

Interactive 

Web 

Social/Mobile Media 

Event 

25 Conclusion 

–Closing Statement 

26 References 

–Cited Works 


1

Introduction 


1

Brand Promise 

Rebranding American Apparel is all about changing their current image. 

The company needs to focus on what their brand represents and 

what it portrays about the American look and feel for clothes. Great 

attributes for American Apparel are that its 100% made in USA, it fights 

against sweatshops, and it has a hand in some political activism in 

legalizing LA and legalizing gay rights. 

Branding Pillars 

American Apparel is all about quality, community, and passion. These 

attributes all represent what the USA is about. Quality products, community 

values, and the communities passion for the United States. 

Audience 

The main audience is individuals between the ages of 18-35 who are 

looking for a clean look. They are those who need simple items in 

their wardrobe to grab and go such as students, and euntrepenuers. 

They want a look that is affordable but upscale all in one. This group 

has values and want a brand that hold those values. Groups that are 

fighting against immigration laws and helping get gay rights will want to 

support and buy this brand. Mostly young free thinkers are looking at 

this brand. 

History 

In 1989, American Apparel was founded by Dov Charney from Canada. 

Hewas always fascinated by the American culture and thus created 

a USA made brand. In 2000, the company moved downtown 

and started off as a wholesale company for selling t-shirts for screenprinting 

and uniforms. After this they moved onto being a fashion/retail 

company and has been known as one of the fastest growing retail 

companies in 2005. 

However, since then the company has had some bad luck in 

finances and has almost gone bankrupt twice since then. Recently, 

the founder and CEO, Dov Charney has also been removed from his 

position because of past allegations of misconduct. He is still with the 

company as a consultant. 

Current position 

Their current slogan’s consist of “Made in USA” and “Made Sweatshop-Free 

in Downtown LA”. 


3

Research 


1

SWOT Analysis 

SWOT analysis is an acronym for strength, weakness, opportunities 

and threats. This method helps discover what is aiding a company 

and what is deterring it. 

Strength 

·Supporter of strong groups for gay rights and legalizing immigration 

· Simple shirts for designers 

· Sweatshop-free 

· Established retail brand 

·100% USA made 

· Whole production of garments in one building 

Weaknesses 

·Not a great wholeseller anymore 

· Has almost gone bankrupt twice, not financially stable 

· The negative press that Dov Charney brings to the company 

· Recent advertisement of the brand has been over sexualized 

· Too many different categories of items in company 

Opportunities 

· Focus on the USA label and make it a part of the advertisements. 

· The opportunities of having everything made in the USA. No shipping 

cost, and time saving. 

Threats 

· Political support for gay rights and legalizing immigration can bring 

a negative look to the company from some customers. 

· Not having money to support the company in the future 

RESEARCH | REBRANDING AMERICAN APPAREL | PAGE 

5

ZAG Analysis 

1.Who are you? 

American Apparel 

2. What do you do? 

Sell 100% U.S.A. made clothing 

3. What’s your vision? 

Eliminate sweat shops and help political groups 

4.What wave are you riding? 

A very negative one right now. Bad press and advertisement happening 

at the moment. 

5.Who shares the brandscape? 

Other competing brands include Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, and 

Urban Outfitters. 

6.What makes you the only? 

This brand is the only one that sells 100% US made clothes and 

also uses its free speech to connect with political/community groups. 

7.What should you add or subtract? 

Should be strictly women and men clothing and not all the extra accessories 

for the brand. Also the over sexualized advertisements have 

become a negative in the press. 

8.Who loves you? 

The group that really loves American Apparel is the gay legalization 

and the legalization of immigration in LA. 

9. Who is the enemy? 

Political groups against the legalization of gay and LA. 

10. What do they call you? 

Others call us too racy and ungodly, but were just free spirits. We 

just have more modern views on things and want to create a more free 

U.S. 

11. How do you explain yourself? 

We are a modern company with modern values. 

12.How do you spread the word? 

American Apparel uses social networks such as instagram and advertisements 

to spread there word of what they do. 

13. How do people engage with you? 

People can come into our stores and order from our online site. 

14. What do they experience? 

They experience a clothing look with color and simple design. The 

fabric and the design of the clothing is sexy and different. 

15. How do you earn their loyalty? 

By being a brand that shows how people really look in our advertisements. 

We don’t photoshop anything, we like to be a real company 

with real people. This shows people that our clothing will also look like 

it does in the ads and that we sell quality clothing from the U.S. 

16. How do you extend your success? 

Working with the community/political groups that it supports to become 

one of their favorite brands all around. 

17. How do you protect your portfolio? 

Making clothing with colors that are original and having values that 


6

Competition Analysis 

Competitors such as, Fruit of the Loom and Hanes are both also going 

for the simple look. Urban Outfitters are going for the youthful target that 

American Apparel is trying to reach in most of its advertisements. 

Fruit of the Loom is focusing on having happy individuals, start happy. 

They want their message to be about positivity and that shows in their 

advertisements. Although they are half naked just like in some of American 

Apparels advertisements, they aren’t provocative and sexual. They 

use color to lighten the brand to be fun and energizing, while AA is very 

black and white in their website. 

Hanes Brands works on several apparel brands that are strong market 

competitors. They believe in basic apparel for everyday looks in inner and 

active wear. They believe in social responsibility and taking care of the 

environment by making clothing out of plant based products, such as 

cotton. There look is very generic since it is a company with many different 

brands in it. However, all their brands are very simple and colorful just 

like Fruit of the Loom. 

Lastly Urban Outfitters is turning into a big fad because of its “hipster” 

looks. The company is operated all over the world including the United 

States. It has items for men, women, and household. It recently just 

became a number one seller of vinyl in the United States. It has several 

brands including anthropology which is a high end brand for people of 

this generation. There is no real backlash on Urban Outfitters, other then 

some of the items they sell are controversial which they most of the time 

pull from their items to sell if they are too risky. This company is very 

limiting to what their message is of fashion of our time and keeps with the 

modern look and feel of what todays teens to young adults want to wear. 

They also make it sexy but fun and not too sexualized. American Apparels 

brand has too many clients going from older people to young adults 

to children that its hard to focus on who to sell to. 


7

Competition Brand Identity 

Competing logos are mostly type based and simple. The ones that have 

any type of image are still very simple and easy to read. 

Pictorial Emblem Word marks 


8

Photo Elicitation 

Demographic 


9


American Dream 


10


American Landscapes 


11

Rebranding Strategy 


1

Current Strategy 

This is a global company that was once a wholesaler and now is trying 

to compete in the retail industry for the past 3 decades. 

American Apparel Today 

Company all in one building, customers find it edgy and a bit to racey, 

competition include hanes fruit of the loom and urban outfitters, inside 

the company there was some conflict with the CEO of the company. 

The company wants to be part of political issues such as gay rights 

and immigration legalization. They want to sell their clothing through sex 

appeal, as the CEO said “ Sex sells”. 

-There logo and identity currently is very simple and has nothing to its 

design. No personality really. 

-Some ways that they sell their brand identity currently is online, in 

stores, and advertisements. They have a simple black and white look 

with pops of colors in their advertisements. Online they sell all over the 

world. In-stores they have workers that dress all in their clothing and have 

all the color palette displayed for tshirts and other garments.The brand 

is simple like the clothing is. No real design, but is readable and understandable. 

Its a logo that is bold and can stand out. 

-Currently they seem to be having trouble controlling their assets considering 

they have almost gone bankrupt twice and are still not currently 

safe from that happening again. 

-The brand promise currently is “100% made in USA” and “Made 

sweatshop-free in downtown LA”. The big idea was to create a company 

that eliminates any sweatshop endorsements from their production. 

None of the clothing is produced overseas in other factories. 

BRANDING STRATEGY | REBRANDING AMERICAN APPAREL | PAGE 

13

Proposed Strategy 

Building Brand Identity 

Over the past couple Ad campaigns by American Apparel they have 

been very inconsistent on what they are all about. They have gone from 

woman empowerment, to sleazy outfitting. They seem to be having a 

hard time realizing what each season is all about and also keep it consecutive 

with the whole idea of what American Apparel is about. Customers 

as of lately are looking at advertisements go sexy to sleazy from 

American Apparel. 

Now what does American Apparel want to be known for? The main 

focus of American Apparel should be their support for American made 

products. Yes, they support GBLT and immigration movements, but 

it should be about the product not who they support. An all American 

brand should be about taste and image. When we think about America 

we think of versatility of people and all the different ethnicities we have in 

the US. This company shouldn’t be looked at as a very revealing clothing 

company. Its very disorganized and should have some focus. The company 

should focus on the largest part of the demographic which is 18-30 

year olds. 

First, the clothing brand needs to be changed in order to change 

the image. Its all about clothing for American Apparel and they should 

start by changing the style of their clothing. Give the brand something 

a little more covering in order to give it a new image. The clothing can 

still be sexy but not too revealing. Give the identity of the new clothing 

and branding will help it be portrayed as something completely changed 

and better. The new branding should be hidden for a couple months so 

that the new brand can be campaigned on a clean slate. The idea of a 

new CEO and new image is what needs to be done. It needs to be a 

completely new company when it is revealed so that it doesn’t resemble 

anything like the old image. 

What is a Brand? 

So what makes American Apparel work? The clothing, the advertisements, 

and the website.The clothing needs to be a little less scandalous 

and a little more classy. What they are selling needs to be sell-able, and 

if its to risky then who would buy it? It is still a company trying to make a 

profit, not just a statement. So first thing first is change the items they are 

selling into profit. 

Second, advertisement needs to reflect the new look of American 

Apparel. No more half naked models, the clothing should be the main focus, 

not the model wearing it. I feel that new models should be taken into 

account of who makes it look good in a natural way. I like the idea that 

American Apparel and Aerie have of not photoshopping their models. 

The website is how most of international sales are done. It works online 

to have relations with most countries that have retail stores. Because 

of its image it comes off as a very European brand rather then a more 

conservative look like most Americans are. The brand name should relate 

to what they are selling and there look as a company. 

As mentioned, the brand should be about what they want to be 

viewed as, a charity company with all American values. They support so 

many different causes and thats what the vision should be for American 

Apparel. “Worn with values” “apparel with values”. Should have unique, 

freedom, independence, and happiness. American apparel should continue 

to support who they wish but should do it in a more tasteful manor. 

Case Studies 

Aeropostale recently went through an identity change just like American 

Apparel needs to do. The image changed from a very dated look 

for teens to a high end looking brand. The look is new and fresh and 

even I, who hasn’t walked into an aeropostale since i was 15, went in 

and checked out the new items. They are new and fresh and make you 

want to wear them. The prices are high and the brand reflects that now. 

However, its hard to ask for high prices when it just recently went through 

the quick change from kid styles to new hip styles. The change improved 

the brand but the image is still slightly there. 

Also, they used social media to reconnect with their customers. Giving 

teaser ads to help consumers understand what the new aeropostale is 

all about. They used twitter, facebook, and instagram to improve their 

look and get people to take a second look at their message of “Are 

You Who You Were a Year Ago?” And other tag lines about their recent 

change. Social media helped spread the word about their new brand 

identity. Also using social media icons to wear and promote their product 

help a lot as well. 


14

Creative Outcomes 


1

Proposed New Brand Identity 

AMERICAN 

apparel 

AMERICAN 

apparel 


16

Typeography 

Helvetica Neue 

Condensed Bold 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890 

Condensed Black 


Ultra light 


Ultra light Italic 


Thin 


Thin Italic 


Light 


Light Italic 


Regular 


Italic 


Medium 


Medium Italic 


Bold Italic 


Bold 


Didot 

Regular 


Italic 


Bold 



17

Color Palette 

0e0c0f 3d3027 a38362 5f7a8f 92abbf f4f4f2 


18

Clothing 

The clothing for American 

Apparel needs to be more 

modest and better displayed. 

These are great 

examples of close ups of 

the items and the tags that 

would be on ethem. 


19

Website 

A new website to give the new clean look of the product 

and the idea of an all- American modest brand. 

Home Page 


20

Shop Page 


21

About Us Page 


22

Magazine Spread 

A magazine promotion to show the new look of American Apparel. 


23

Advertising 

Billboards and Posters will be put up around town to display 

the new brand. 


24

References 

Information 

–American Apparel. “American Apparel.” American Apparel | Fashionable 

Basics. Sweatshop Free. Made in USA. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Dec. 

2014. 

Images 

–Crew. “Unsplash High Resolution Photos.” Unsplash. Crew, n.d. Web. 

19 Dec. 2014. 

–Berfield, Susan. “Dov Charney’s Sleazy Struggle for Control of American 

Apparel.” (n.d.): n. pag. Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, 09 July 

2014. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. 

–Bruni, Frank. “A Grope and a Shrug.” Editorial. The New York Times. The 

New York Times, 30 June 2014. Web. 20 Dec. 2014. 

–”How Aeropostale and Asos Are Getting Mobile Right with Millennials.” - 

Mobile Marketer. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2014. 


1

References 


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American Apparel Brand Book

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