Dov Hawks

I don't know how many people remember this piece about American Apparel, but I'd meant to mention that I got a call earlier this month from the company's founder, Dov Charney. He told me he was initially nonplussed by the piece, but we ended up having an interesting chat in which he averred that he's an ardent free trader, and that he wants people to buy his clothing because it's well made, not out of some sense of jingoistic consumer activism.

He also said the video montage of international clothing labels I mention wasn't meant as any sort of critique of globalization—that was a little more dubious; whatever Charney's intent, that certainly struck me as the most natural interpretation of it in the window of a shop that makes so much of its all-domestic prodution model. Still, nice to hear it; consider the level of snark in that piece retroactively toned down about 3 notches.