The ex-CEO of American Apparel has been wanting to play golf with my dad for months. And I say "ex-CEO" because this man just sold his company for $290 million and still has shares in the company. The Garment District in downtown Los Angeles is all Korean men and they all know each other. They have the same sewing people, the same dying people, the same friends. Somehow, one of my uncle's is really good friends with Mr. Im (AA guy) and so my dad finally got around to playing a round of golf with him, after two or three cancelations on my dad's part. I guess they played the weekend Michael Jackson died so they got drunk afterwards and danced like MJ.
Anyways, my dad and I were talking business and I asked him, "You know about the controversy with their advertisement and how sexually explicit they are. Did he have anything to do with that?" My dad just explained to me that every company needs to have a concept and this is the direction they were going in. It's a marketing system that works really well, and though some people have negative things to say about it, people are talking.
He was also telling me how American Apparel wasn't always the huge company that it is now. Mr. Im had a hard time for the first many years trying to pay the people he owes money to, and my dad admits to being in the same position, as have many of the other companies downtown. I think he said that for years and years he was hiding from people and owed too much money to tell. It's just interesting how small Los Angeles is, because someone always knows someone who knows someone. My dad said he'd be seeing AA guy really soon and will mention that his kids are avid shoppers. Maybe I'll get complimentery cards that allow me a certain amount of clothes like the CEO from Adriano Goldschmeid gave my dad to give to me.. but this time I could actually use them.
On a completely side note, The Dude and I went to American Apparel on Friday. We rode our bikes there since Artscape was happening down the block and every street from Mt. Vernon to downtown was packed and didn't want to deal with driving AND parking. We got caught in some pretty heavy rain on the way back but it was terribly fun. I've never ridden in the rain before. Lately, the little rides The Dude and I have been going on have been so much fun, to the point of me saying over and over, "That was SO much fun!"
