Exclusive: Interview With Alex Spunt, American Apparel

Everyone wants a piece of the worlds hottest label at the moment, American Apparel. Here at PSFK we were lucky enough to talk to Alex Spunt, one of AAs advertising team. Alex is responsible for some ofthe iconic AA ads that have come out over the last couple of years. She gave PSFK the exclusive lowdown on AA’s latest ideas which include an online radio station and AAs venture into trousers, a first for the Los Angeles based company.

American Apparel’s use of blogs and online has been one of the most effective uses of the medium I’ve seen. How did this come about?

The Internet is a great natural extension of our advertising. We’ve always put our print ads into alternative papers and magazines with a limited demographic. Because of this limited audience blogs were an obvious medium to move to.

When we launch a store in a new city we look for local, small, free magazines to advertise in.

The Internet is great for testing. It’s great to actually see the ROI for different ads and seeing different types of creative work better.

We have a guy who’s a specialist online media buyer. He came up with the Coolhunting idea, which was a success. We’ve used it to promote the different parts of the AA site. For example the gallery section or the product pages.

The juxtaposition of the photographic style and ethical and philanthropic mantra of the company is really interesting. Was this a deliberate creative and strategic decision?

It wasn’t deliberate. Before we went into retail we did ads for the wholesale business. There was this snapshot aesthetic that we were using for the brochures. If you look in one of the old wholesale catalogues you can see the style. It’s just kind of evolved since then.

The ads are all an extension of the business philosophy. All the ads are made in a vertically integrated way. The photographers are from the company, so are the models and graphic designers. We get everyone involved. In one of the ads at the moment we are shooting a really hot couple who work in the factory. We don’t use perfect models we use real guys and real girls.

Do you think that the advertising is an extension of Dov Charney’s personality?

The advertising comes from what Dov used to do with the wholesale catalogues. He used snapshots of friends, girlfriends in his earlier catalogues. He still shoots a lot. We have a girl who now shoots a lot of the photos, Iris. Between me, Iris and the graphic designer we’ve been responsible for much of the recent advertising but we get everyone involved. I mean we’ve had interns shooting ads. Dov started this style and it’s just grown since then.

People have said things about the advertising and it’s got a lot of press because of the controversy. Was this planned?

We didn’t think things out in that way. For example, right now, Iris is in Mexico City. She might have shot some people last night, she’ll send me the shots today, I’ll write the copy and we can have the ad out the next day. We have made mistakes before where we’ve thought that it’s a great shot and put an ad out that has caused some controversy but it’s just been that we’ve had a different perspective on it.

Has the philanthropic angle taken more of a back seat in recent campaigns?

We made a conscious decision to move that stuff away. We’ve had some people saying you’re immoral for putting those styles of ads out when your meant to be a ‘good’ company. The intension has never been to say ‘oh we’re a charity case’, we’re just saying it’s possible to pay a proper wage. In a capitalist society we’re making an effort to show you can do it. When you get a backlash, it’s not a big deal, but we’re bored of it.

When AA started out was there a particular target audience you were seeking or has this evolved as time has passed?

Our target audience is always defined by where we’ve opened our stores. We’re not selling to the suburbs; we’re after a niche market. Our first store was in Echo Park, which wasn’t seen as a commercially smart place to be but we try to find up and coming areas to open our stores. You could say that the people we are talking to are from the creative class.

In the UK and Europe AA stores are pretty rare. This adds a lot of cache to the brand. How do you maintain that in the states where stores are far more common?

In LA we have 10 stores. You think to yourself are we opening too many? We still function like a small company, we read and respond to people’s letters and that’s the sort of thing that keeps us fresh. We innovate too. We’re starting an online radio station and Iris has started up a free paper in Mexico City. Also we’re going to start doing pants now.

How do you monitor fashion trends and keep the range fresh?

People going into our stores often shop like they’re buying groceries. Which is really cool and it’s because we get all the basics right. But when it comes to keeping things fresh we use our instinct really. Instead of hiring trendspotters and consultants the people we hire to work here have their fingers on the pulse. And because we’re vertically integrated we can turn round new styles really quickly. We can test a new style, make 300 items, send it to our best stores and see how it goes. We also run ads asking for feedback on stuff. If something doesn’t sell we can always change it. We’re not like the GAP where they make a style for a whole season.

Does the fact that you are vertically integrated make it easier to react to changes in the industry?

It means that we can do a turnaround really fast. We don’t always because we want to get it right! We have turned around certain styles in a few weeks. For example we managed to do a jacket and get it in stores literally as Fall happened.

Dov Charney has previously told PSFK that ‘there are no other market trends’ and ‘it’s all about the consumer’. If this is the case where do you get the insights from to take the product design and marketing in a certain direction?

Every thing comes from in-house. We do ask our consumers for feedback but it’s nothing formal, not proper research or anything. We also have these publications around the office: Fantastic Man, Self Service and Purple.

From the sound of this conversation, you guys have a great time at AA. As an employee of American Apparel does it fell like you’re part of a revolutionary company?

I have a theory that anything you get involved in ends up being like a high school project. It’s a bunch of young kids running the show, I’m 27 and Dov the CEO is just 36. It’s loose. There’s no corporate protocol. We’re free to wear and say what we want. The culture makes our products stronger. There’s a feeling that anything is possible. Dov definitely believes that anything is possible.

Fashion ads can look so ridiculous and overindulgent. I find over the top fashion ads funny. They slip into the absurd.

With the whole consumer created phenomenon we’ve kind of been part of it. The way we make ads by throwing images around the world is great. We also find that we don’t need to treat different countries differently as the internet has given people similar views.

What can we look forward to in the next few months from AA?

Look out for the online radio station. It’s going to be called Viva Radio. It’s going to be streamed into stores but with public access. It’s a new concept and I think it’s uncharted territory for online radio.

When we bring out pants that is going to be really big. They are going to be available in exciting colours and have a really classic cut. I’ve tried them on a couple of times and they are brilliant… We take it in turns to model stuff in the office.

The other thing you’ve got to check out is the track t-shirt. It’s amazing. I know people who’ve bought them and refused to take them off for two weeks, they’re so comfy!

Words: Henry Lambert