Holy guacamole. That's rich coming from a dude that looks like my grade seven science teacher.

Is that the guy in the picture because all I can say is wow - pot calling kettle.

I work in an apparel-related industry and let me just say, AA is WELL KNOWN for their douchey behavior.

Yea maybe if they got rid of him, they would do better overall. What a skeeze and an idiot! To think he could get away with it?!

i find him to be very interesting- on one hand, he openly supports fair wages for workers, fights for immigration reform, and makes really great clothes. on the other, he keeps getting slapped with sexual harassment lawsuits and does douche-y sh*t like this. not to mention his overly sexual ad campaigns.

In that case he should fire himself lol

I was going to write a bunch of stuff about how gross he is, how porntastic AA is, how much I hope they sue the pants (permanently!) off this guy, since he doesn't like to wear them all that much anyway, etc. But everything can be summed up in three words:

(Future) Prison B*tch.

That is all.

Isn't this similar to what happened to Abercrombie & Fitch a while back?

I've been in American Apprel a bunch of times and its not like I noticed oh my god these employees are so good looking.

What a tool. I remember back in 99 when I was applying for a waiter position at this restaurant in a trendy neighborhood. The instructions read slide application under door with photo attached. I felt like I was delivering a hit target for the mob.

It's bad enough we have to deal with the unspoken discrimination against looks and it is especially rampant in the apparel industry however to be so blatant about it as this idiot blows my mind.

I don't shop at places that have nothing but pretty people working there. No offense to the pretty people, they can't help that they're pretty but it's hiring managers that make these discriminations and that's just wrong.

Nothing like projecting your own insecurities onto other people.

Um excuse me dude, but you yourself are freaking ugly as sin.

I work at A&F and the managers have standards they have to look at when hiring someone. I have no idea what these standards are, but I know they exist because when Gilly Hicks was opening, my store manager said "Imagine how great you'd have to look to work there!" because their workers basically walk around in underwear all day.

I think, for A&F at least, it's more of how you can portray their look. We had one guy hired (Lord knows what reason, he was creepy) who didn't even know what A&F was! He said to me "why are your clothes so expensive, are they a lot of different brands?" and I just sat there going "Um no, they're all Abercrombie and Fitch clothes..." Needless to say, he didn't last very long, but I think that was more bceause he was harassing the girls who work there.

Tre - It's actually NOT illegal to discriminate on the basis of attractiveness, as long as the features associated with certain races aren't considered more attractive than others. Think about it - if it were illegal to do so, every clothing designer/retailer would be doing something illegal, because models are always selected on the basis of looks.

So, is Dov Charney going to fire himself? Has he seen himself in the mirror?

A) That's a lot of pictures to look at
B) Is that his picture or just an example of someone he would fire?

My Grandma used to say: We are living in the "Last Days"... if she were living now I wonder how she would take the stuff I've been seeing/hearing!!

haha phil!!

But I thought the company prided itself on the fact that they use average looking girls in their ads, without digital enhancements and such.

I guess I am the only one who doesn't think that this is horrible. Like chole bella pointed out, discriminating against someone based on their looks isn't illegal unless there is racism involved (which I am sure is also really common at these stores, but that is a different issue). If you work at AA or AF or other such clothing stores, you're really part retail associate, part model. That's why they require you to wear their own clothing brand while you work. I don't think that this is particularly unethical. It's no different than the stores picking good-looking models for their catalogs.

As for this guy being unattractive, I don't see how that is relevant. Did he say, "We can only have employees who are as ridiculously good-looking as me"? No.

Pot calling the kettle black indeed.
I don't believe that an employee has to be "beautiful" in order to hold down a job. Were I the manager of the store I would hire based upon competancy and I would only fire a great worker if they refused to shower.

I agree with you Chouette, I don't think it is horrible either. The ridiculously good-looking line reminds me of Zoolander! Though, as far as my store goes, we do try our hardest to have a diverse group of people working with us!

I knew A&F had certain standards when I applied there just from shopping there all the time. I am not drop dead gorgeous or anything, and they still stick me on the sales floor to try and sell stuff! (Which doesn't work out well as I generally dislike people and prefer to work in the back!)

I mean...I know that if I walked into Hot Topic right now and asked for an application they would laugh in my face. Because I am a preppy little A&F girl and I would not portray their brand the way they wanted it to be portrayed, and I am okay with that.

Though, what exactly does American Apparel sell? I don't think we have one here, is it kind of like an Abercrombie or Hot Topic or something where there would be a certain "look" associated with it?

It's not the legality of the move that's the issue, so much as the implication that salespersons should be physically attractive to be most effective. People who could possibly move product very effectively will be fired or denied employment as a result of such an exclusive policy. A move to purge the sales floors of people judged as unattractive could very possibly be counterproductive to the goals of a retailer. In the end all that will have been accomplished is the rebranding of a company that thinks little of people less endowed in a conventional ideal of beauty. It is a bit different from using only attractive models in that modeling is all about looks, but working sales in a retail store is a job where you don't need looks so much as you need skill in communicating the relevant benefits of a product to particular customers. If you were a retail manager would you rather have a sales staff of pretty idiots or would you rather have a sales staff of skilled salespeople able to use empathy to connect the consumer to their ideal products? Such a philosophy of valuing superficial characteristics over skills can serve as a boon for short term sales, but could be deleterious for long-term sales. A smart retailer would rather hire to build customer loyalty and that means setting the top priority to hiring effective salespersons. Of course, pretty people can be great salespersons as well, but to limit your hiring practices to only the pretty people would place your company at a hiring disadvantage.

"It is a bit different from using only attractive models in that modeling is all about looks, but working sales in a retail store is a job where you don't need looks so much as you need skill in communicating the relevant benefits of a product to particular customers."

Retail at these clothing stores is two-fold, and part of it is being the living, breathing models in the stores. Why else would these companies care that you wear their clothing brand while you work?

"If you were a retail manager would you rather have a sales staff of pretty idiots or would you rather have a sales staff of skilled salespeople able to use empathy to connect the consumer to their ideal products?"

Why does it have to be one or the other? For most jobs, there are multiple characteristics needed in a potential employee. It's not brains vs. beauty here, it's about about finding people who can be both attractive and competent salespeople, and I don't think that idea is very far-fetched. Plus, I don't think the fashion industry sells clothes using empathy; if anything, they embody the antithesis of empathy, IMO.

"Such a philosophy of valuing superficial characteristics over skills can serve as a boon for short term sales, but could be deleterious for long-term sales."

Tell that to Hooters. They've been hiring attractive girls with big boobs for over 25 years now.

this happens a lot. A&F does that to its employees, those that are not "model" material are sent to work in the back, where nobody can see them. Sad to hear that AA does this as well, especially during this economy, people need their jobs!

That's rude. Plus, if he were in one of those photos he would totally have to fire himself!

Um, the people who work in the back at A&F are often on the floor, putting clothes out and such, so they are held to the same standards as the people who are on the floor. And a lot of times we in the back are sent to work on the floor. I specifically requested to work in the back, because I am shy and don't like talking to people, and they stuck me in the VERY front to greet everyone on Black Friday. And I defintely don't think I am "model" material.

Dov Charney is definitely a douche of the highest degree, but sadly, this isn't that unusual in retail. I had a friend who was told she was getting a promotion at her mall job because she had "that Aero look."

I used to be a A&F manager and let me tell you how much I thought i was losing my morality when I had to hire and recruit people. There is an unsaid list of requirements of "looks" to hire and honestly, i didn't think there was a single hot employee in any of the stores I managed. Every season or half season, head quarters would request manger pictures and pictures of our "hottest" guy and girl to see who could make it as a seasonal model. What got ME so angry was how my co managers described the not so beautiful hires as 'sacrificial' hirees and that really boiled my blood. Honestly, I'm not that ugly, and I am totally not preppy so I think that's why I was always stuck in the store never allowed to leave the store to go on 'recruiting-day trips' AKA lets go shopping and leave the remaining manager to do all our work for the day. Oh man, i have so much anger stories to say about A&F. But i don't think AA is as bad as A&F from what I read, but I've never worked there but I did apply and they did requested photos which automatically peeved me and didn't go to the interview.

Just saw this story on The Frisky, at least this article didn't have random lines about memos in it. But this whole story is still based on a web of rumors, anonymous tips and nothing even resembling a verifiable fact. It's just irresponsible to convict someone with such a lack of evidence in the court of public opinion.

It sounds like a rumor. He could use a shave and a decent haircut.
And eye lasic surgery.