A

GO TO SLEEP

There is a time for many words and there is a time for

sleep.

—HOMER, THE ODYSSEY

merican Apparel was a billion-dollar company that failed for
many reasons. It borrowed too much money. It had a toxic
workplace culture. It was besieged by lawsuits. It opened too many
stores. This was all written about many times during the company’s
public disintegration in 2014.
But one cause of its failure—a major reason why more than ten
thousand people lost their jobs and a company with $700 million in
annual sales simply disappeared—was overlooked by most outside
observers.*
When Dov Charney founded American Apparel, he had the notion
that he would be a completely accessible boss. As the company grew
from a dorm room operation to a global retailer and one of the
largest garment manufacturers in the world, he stuck to that. In fact,
his ego swelled at the idea of being at the center of every part of the
business.
It was a true open-door policy. Not just open-door but phone and
email too. Any employee, at any level of the company, from sleeve
sewer to sales associate to photographer, could reach out whenever
they had a problem. For good measure, during one of the company’s
many public relations crises, Charney posted his phone number
online for any journalist or customer who had an issue as well.