Born Hustler: American Apparel’s Dov Charney Is Born
Born Hustler: American Apparel’s Dov Charney Is Born
When Charney was in prep school, he began bootlegging garbage bags of K-Mart t-shirts from the U.S. back to his native Canada. Today, Charney heads American Apparel, the brand-free, sweatshop-free, made-in-America clothing chain he founded in 1997 that is taking the world by storm. Charney was named Ernst & Young’s 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year and one of Details magazine’s 50 most powerful people under 42. American Apparel is now the largest t-shirt manufacturer in the U.S., but Charney’s mission goes beyond creating cool clothes.
Charney was born on January 31, 1969 in Montreal, Canada to Jewish Canadian parents. A self-described “hyperactive” kid, Charney says, “I think I was just born overcharged…I was such a crazy kid in elementary school I was almost kicked out.”
In an attempt to control his behaviour, Charney’s parents sent him away to Wallingford, Connecticut, where he attended the prestigious prep school Choate Rosemary Hall. But Charney’s focus was on anything but school. Instead, he wanted to get in on what he saw as a money-making venture. “My friends were selling these great bootleg t-shirts in front of the Forum,” he says. “I was going to prep school in the States at the time and the t-shirts there were a bit different, better for the silk-screening process. So I started buying t-shirts at K-mart and bringing them to Canada in garbage bags on the train.”
Charney’s new business was flourishing, that is until he was arrested in front of his school. “They took me down to Station 10, which doesn’t exist anymore, and after a couple of hours of me yelling, ‘Monsieur, monsieur!’ they let me out and gave me back my cash and my shirts,” recalls Charney. “So what did I do? Headed straight for the Cock ‘n Bull to try and unload the rest of them.”
It was in that local pub that Charney met a Brooklyn native by the name of Bernie. Bernie placed a large order for t-shirts with Charney, who began to ramp up his business. The deal went sour, however, with Bernie going out of business and Charney losing almost $100,000. “I was barely 18,” he recalls. “So that was the beginning and I guess because I lost money I felt compelled to keep hustling.”
Charney dropped out of Tufts University in his senior year and moved to Columbia, South Carolina to begin anew. In 1989, thanks to a $10,000 loan from his father, he created another t-shirt company. But as his competition began to outsource their operations and imported clothes started to flood the market at cheaper prices, Charney found himself out of business. He was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1996.
But Charney was not ready to give up on his dreams just yet. He hired Marty Bailey, an industry veteran who had worked with the likes of Fruit of the Loom, and through a standard Chapter 11 reorganization tried to bring his company back to life.
Born Hustler American Apparels Dov Charney Is Born
Like this article? Share it with your friends
“America doesn’t need another faceless, institutional apparel company,” says American Apparel founder Dov Charney. “They need an apparel company that gets it and does it right.”
When Charney was in prep school, he began bootlegging garbage bags of K-Mart t-shirts from the U.S. back to his native Canada. Today, Charney heads American Apparel, the brand-free, sweatshop-free, made-in-America clothing chain he founded in 1997 that is taking the world by storm. Charney was named Ernst & Young’s 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year and one of Details magazine’s 50 most powerful people under 42. American Apparel is now the largest t-shirt manufacturer in the U.S., but Charney’s mission goes beyond creating cool clothes.
Charney was born on January 31, 1969 in Montreal, Canada to Jewish Canadian parents. A self-described “hyperactive” kid, Charney says, “I think I was just born overcharged…I was such a crazy kid in elementary school I was almost kicked out.”
In an attempt to control his behaviour, Charney’s parents sent him away to Wallingford, Connecticut, where he attended the prestigious prep school Choate Rosemary Hall. But Charney’s focus was on anything but school. Instead, he wanted to get in on what he saw as a money-making venture. “My friends were selling these great bootleg t-shirts in front of the Forum,” he says. “I was going to prep school in the States at the time and the t-shirts there were a bit different, better for the silk-screening process. So I started buying t-shirts at K-mart and bringing them to Canada in garbage bags on the train.”
Charney’s new business was flourishing, that is until he was arrested in front of his school. “They took me down to Station 10, which doesn’t exist anymore, and after a couple of hours of me yelling, ‘Monsieur, monsieur!’ they let me out and gave me back my cash and my shirts,” recalls Charney. “So what did I do? Headed straight for the Cock ‘n Bull to try and unload the rest of them.”
It was in that local pub that Charney met a Brooklyn native by the name of Bernie. Bernie placed a large order for t-shirts with Charney, who began to ramp up his business. The deal went sour, however, with Bernie going out of business and Charney losing almost $100,000. “I was barely 18,” he recalls. “So that was the beginning and I guess because I lost money I felt compelled to keep hustling.”
Charney dropped out of Tufts University in his senior year and moved to Columbia, South Carolina to begin anew. In 1989, thanks to a $10,000 loan from his father, he created another t-shirt company. But as his competition began to outsource their operations and imported clothes started to flood the market at cheaper prices, Charney found himself out of business. He was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1996.
But Charney was not ready to give up on his dreams just yet. He hired Marty Bailey, an industry veteran who had worked with the likes of Fruit of the Loom, and through a standard Chapter 11 reorganization tried to bring his company back to life.
Born Hustler American Apparels Dov Charney Is Born
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
|||
John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 | ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 Your Life Your Legacy Pump Up Your Calendar Conversations of Leadership Positive Thinking Host Beneficiary |
|
 | ||
 |
Write The PR
Press Release Builder | |
 |
Top 50 Political Blogs
Top Political Blogs of 2009 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||