The moment you step into American Apparel, you get transported into their own world of fashion. From the bare wooden floors to the colourful clothing on display, its miles different from the generic looking, high volume, trend following H&M in my opinion. There is a character within American Apparel that appeals to me and is unique among its competitors and it would be a shame to have to re-brand it towards fast fashion.
Along with taking pictures of the store, I managed to have a quick interview with one of the shop assistants (SA) that work there. Bear in mind the quoted text below is paraphrased and just highlights the key points he raised.
Me:What do you think of American Apparel as a brand, given its situation is declining now, what do think can be done to improve it?
SA: I think it's great, I love the plain clothing, its a better version of H&M in my opinion. The whole idea of being sweatshop free is cool too but nobody really cares about that. I think if they want to improve they need to get rid of that sexualized ads. Maybe they could even use a name change because it just seems a bit stale now.
Me: Do you think they should follow fast fashions then? like H&M or ZARA for example?
SA: Not necessarily, I think if you look at a similar company urban outfitters, they are the largest distributor of vinyl in North America right now. And its aspects that they are appealing to their target audience better. Maybe American Apparel should follow them in a way, to really hone in on a niche market and bring it to the masses since the brand itself does kind of cater to a selected crowd.
This interview gave another perspective on American Apparel as a brand, especially from someone who works there and deals with the kind of customers that come in everyday. What really stood out for me was comparison towards urban outfitters. Maybe American Apparel don't need to be re-branded as another fast fashion brand but one that offers certain lifestyle if you will. Hopefully the pictures taken inside Urban Outfitters illustrate this point.
Just like H&M, Urban Outfitters use colour in their logo design, this could be a key design element in the re-branding. The lifestyle element is illustrated by the ability to buy books, drink ware, iPhone cases, vinyls etc along with your purchases of clothes. Urban Outfitters base their clothing range on other clothing companies. Maybe American Apparel can stock their range with other similar brands to help expose their market. All this aside though, I fail to see how the Urban Outfitters lifestyle is reflected in their logo design. It is just a simple orange typeface. I think it lies with the name of Urban Outfitters, how it draws in their intended audience of slightly edgy fashion subscribers. Maybe a name change like the AA shop assistant said could be in place.
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