American Apparel Sponsors Female Centric Art Show Curated by Employee

NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- American Apparel (Amex: APP), the vertically-integrated clothing manufacturer based in downtown Los Angeles, is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the new female-centric art exhibition, "Gynolandscape." The all-girl show, curated by photographer--and longtime American Apparel employee--Petra Collins, will take place from September 20th to 23rd, at Four81 in SoHo, NYC.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130918/LA81482)

The exhibit, featuring a lineup of artists from The Ardorous, has been designed and cultivated by Petra Collins, a Toronto-born artist who has worked with Vogue Italia, Purple, Vice and Rookie, and is still a contributing photographer for American Apparel. She was first hired by the company at 15 years old as a retail employee before pursuing her career and love of photography. The Toronto-born artist attributes her interest in American Apparel to the realism of the company's earliest ads. "I was 14. You could see the model had armpit hair and her body wasn't retouched. That spoke so loudly to me - it was totally different from anything I'd ever seen before," Collins said.

The exhibit features approximately 40 female artists working around the theme of female equality including Sandy Kim, Jeanette Hayes, Jaimie Warren, Olivia Bee, Kristie Muller and Karley Sciortino. The show also features archival photography from American Apparel photographers Kyung Chung, Iris Alonzo, and Marsha Brady. More than half of American Apparel's staff photographers are women. These women, as well as the thousands of female employees in retail, planning, leadership and technical roles have been the driving force behind American Apparel's imagery and operations since its inception.

"We are excited to be supporting this exhibit curated by a rising artist. Petra's talent was evident since the first days that she worked in our retail stores and it has been a pleasure to see her creativity thrive. It's an honor to support her and these strong female artists and their work," said Iris Alonzo, a creative director for American Apparel.

About American Apparel
American Apparel is a vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of branded fashion basic apparel based in downtown Los Angeles, California. As of August 31, 2013, American Apparel had approximately 10,000 employees and operated 245 retail stores in 20 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China. American Apparel also operates a global e-commerce site that serves over 60 countries worldwide at http://www.americanapparel.net. In addition, American Apparel operates a leading wholesale business that supplies high quality T-shirts and other casual wear to distributors and screen printers.

SOURCE American Apparel