American Apparel Will No Longer Embrace the Bush Or #FreetheNipple
Before anti-airbrushing, normal women’s bodies, and #freethenipple were trendy, American Apparel championed them all. The retailer rose to the top of the cotton clothing game by casting college students who opposed Brazilian bikini waxing in its campaigns. But with Dov Charney out, who was the company’s perennially scandal-embroiled CEO, the retailer is attempting to rehabilitate its poor image by abandoning some of its core practices.
Paula Schneider, who replaced Charney earlier this year, has shaken up the company’s imagery, telling the Los Angeles Times that it doesn’t have to be “sexual for sexual’s sake.” There are no longer nipples nor pubic hair—which both previously appeared in the mesh clothing product shots—on AmericanApparel.com.
Schneider believes that the the company can still tell the same stories—and touch on topics millennials care about such as gay rights and immigration—without being overtly sexual. But while the business is in desperate need of more conservative leadership (Charney attracted controversy like that was his job), aureolas, and body hair happen to be issues millennials care about, too.
Sure, Charney made mistakes, but there should be a happy medium between the practices he put in place and happened to get right and the more toned-down approach Schneider is taking. After all, to shave, wax, or bring back the bush is one of the biggest debates of our time.
More from Yahoo Style:
The Bush Is Back: The Return of Hair Down There
A Plus Size Fashion Exec Talks Body Image and High Style
Free The Nipple: Fighting for Women’s Rights
