Who Wants To Be An American Apparel Model?

Things were pretty busy at the Lower Broadway American Apparel last night. For Fashion’s Night Out the company brought in a D.J., hosted a sidewalk sale, and someone said they were giving away free thongs — but we didn’t see any. The line for the open call, which began at 6 p.m., stretched out the door and a short way down the street by 6:20. One lucky model winner was going to win a trip to Los Angeles to shoot for the brand. The atmosphere was pretty friendly, with American Apparel employees wandering the store approaching shoppers they deemed attractive to press-gang them into trying out. We also met this girl. She was really nice!

I read a copy of the release form each of the try-outs were required to sign; in the small print, it said that by signing, any individual gave up his or her right to ever sue American Apparel, any of its parent companies, subsidiaries, possible future iterations, or even any American Apparel stockholder, for any reason — which is a little odd. (Instead, any future dispute must be handled through binding arbitration, which tends to heavily favor the company, rather than the individual.) Unusual for a simple image release form? Absolutely. But then, if you’d been sued for sexual harassment four times, maybe you’d want to be extra careful, too.