American Apparel

The Mission:

As a primary actor in the Creative Department of American Apparel since 2011, and as Director of Marketing and Creative from 2015 to 2019, I have had the mission to preserve and carry the Brand Image and Identity of American Apparel through numerous campaigns and activations, pushing each collection, and each piece of clothing to its fullest potential.

February 2019, Intimates:

To launch the new collection of stripped and sheer underwear lines, we were planning to shoot a few girls, looking good and confident as per usual. But we also just launched our modal male underwear and didn’t really have the occasion to push it.

For this concept, I decided to work with my friend and LA-based artist photographer Laura Sfez. She is the genius mind behind L’ecole des femmes, a brand that embraces the classic “French girl” trope to the limit, often mixing old uniforms and office gear.

I asked her to shoot the campaign, because I wanted a woman to do it, but specifically a woman that lives applying principles of feminism, not just talking about it.

Laura wanted to angle the shoot around the “secretary” look, vintage phones, and files cabinet. omen alone, as it would imply they own their own business, just like Laura herself. But in 2019, I knew that a few people might never pass the first degree of things and give us a backlash for being “stereotypical”, that’s when I decided “Let’s shoot the men with that direction too. And it was a success!

Not to mention that if our shoot was quite binary in its treatment, our casting wasn’t. Still to this day, I receive notes from some of the models, telling me how much this empowered them

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Right:

Portrait of Laura Sfez on set.

Intimates Launch email

December 2018, “we all Belong”

Justin Teodoro is a young American Illustrator who met fame after one of his illustrations turned viral on social media, in the mid of 2018 as the Trump administration started to deport migrants while separating families.

His drawing representing the Statue of Liberty, holding a brown child by the hand, featured a slogan on her back stating “We should all care”, in response to the unfortunate wardrobe incident by the First Lady just hours after the immigration news broke out.

Immigration was always at the heart of American Apparel values, we all come from somewhere and no matter the dream, we are all here trying to make it happen.

So I contacted Justin and proposed a Graphic Tee collaboration.

Fall-Winter 2018:

For our Fall Winter Campaign, I took the team to British Colombia, Canada. We had our classic sweats, a few new knits, rain-resistant gear, and for the very first time, some real Puffers. I wanted to immerse our team into a calm wilderness, with fog, and landslides of pines until the eyes can see.

Vancouver Island was the perfect setting. Separated from the world for a few days, each shot came up naturally. I brought 2 LA-based talents, singer Kara Lane, and Michael, a long-time favorite AA model, and former retail employee. In addition, we ran a local casting in Vancouver to include local people, as we always do.

I was inspired by vintage Patagonia Ads, featuring one single human, in the wide wilderness.

September 2018, Nudes:

After decades of dominating the Basics and Bodysuit categories, it was about time for American Apparel to come with additional shades of “nude”.

There aren’t a million ways to showcase nude colors on models, besides for a diverse lineup of models. But my main inspiration here was my long-time muse Vanessa Beecroft and her treatment of female bodies in space.

The shoot was in 2 times, the first with an organized lineup of matching skin to garment, and the second part of the shoot was dedicated to chaos, mixing and matching skin to garment, as you would actually do in your daily life, no gatekeeping here.

July 2018, do It in Basics:

July is often that empty month right in between the Summer drop and Back to School. Most retailers in the world use that month for heavy sales and promotions. At American Apparel it was often used as a time to push our most classic styles and less trendy items.

For this quick campaign, I wanted to go back to the source of sexy gym postures, in obviously flexible and comfortable fabrics.

To the Right and Below:

Online Lookbook

On the Left:

Poster design for Wild Postering Ads

Below:

Photoshoot for Casting Call Poster, alongside the campaign.

September 2017, Denim and friends:

For Fall 2017, we added more Denim pieces to our popular collection, alongside a few effective basics, and revival metallic styles.

I didn’t want to hit the whole 80s era all over again, and went for a late 70s vibe instead.

On the Right and Below:

Online lookbook

January 2017, Wholesale Catalogue:

For this new edition of our Wholesale Catalogue, the Brand Director and I decided to commission the photography to one of our long-time friends and former employees, Monika Mogi.

We wanted to shoot in Tokyo, to take advantage of the local architecture and brutalist feel the streets of the megalopolis give.

On the Left:

Directional Moodboard

November 2026, Friends in thermal:

The 2016 Winter collection was all about Flannels, Sweats, Basics, and Thermals. I wanted to mix in a feel of holidays, without being too obvious.

I envisioned a weekend away with friends, in Big Bear, when nothing is planned ahead, and where everyone wakes up whenever they feel like it, ready to lounge by the tv or the fire.

Turned out, that’s exactly how the shoot went… Because I wanted a clear Winter-Cold Look for some of the pictures, I wanted to shoot at sunrise, when the light is still blue, my 2 photographers weren’t too happy and requested to go back to sleep for a couple of hours afterward. But the models, myself, and the social media manager were awake and waiting. So I decided to start and shoot, I handed the camera to Sojin, the media manager, and went on with a fully-on-hand art direction. After two hours, when the boys woke up, we already got all the money-shots, and Sojin became one of our official photographers :-)

On the Left:

A candid select, shot at 5AM

Below:

Behind the scene, briefing the model on the direction

On the Right:

Directional Moodboard

Fall 2016, From PM to AM:

The Fall Collection was about “Night Out Essentials” and more trendy pieces to lead us to the Holiday Season slowly. I wanted to stay in LA and explore an area not often represented in the media when you think about LA, Koreatown.

I wanted to showcase its nightlife and give it an “In the Mood for Love” kind of feel.

On the Left:

Billboard featuring the campaign

On the Right:

Directional Moodboard

March 2016, Swim’16:

Once in a while, I just feel the need to go back to the roots of the Brand. And when swimsuits are involved, it is easily done.

I wanted to go full-force 80s chic revival, and when you are in LA, it’s not very hard to find a house that embodies just that.

We casted a few new faces on that shoot, to pose next to one of our legacy models, spending a couple of days, just chilling, and shooting swims.

On the Right:

Email Graphic, attached to the campaign

March 2016, Spring’16:

Shot at the same time and location as the Swim collection, our new basics for Spring were a perfect match for the revival 80s concept.

It is often a way for us to maximize on budget, and create 2 campaigns from one.

October 2015, Halloween:

The result of the Halloween photoshoot was so fun and fresh, that I decided to stay in Amsterdam for Valentime’s Day, and worked with Jill yet again, to shoot our lace underwears and dresses.

Her friend Rose took the shots in an intimate and soft atmosphere of Winter. When it comes to sensuality, there is a real sexiness in comfort and trust, that you find in these candid photographs.

October 2015, Halloween:

This time we picked Amsterdam.

It all started with a cute girl on Instagram, who was taking amazing selfies with our underwear. It didn’t take us long to notice Jill. Of course, everyone knows her as the international supermodel and face of Chanel, but in late 2015, she was just having fun on the internet.

I decided to send her our collection of Catsuits for Halloween and have her shoot herself with her friends.

June 2015, Summer in Tel Aviv:

As we were launching a new collection of swimwear. For this campaign, we decided to work with a commisioned photographer and former employee to shoot in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The idea of the waterpark was suggested by the photographer, and my direction was on straight forward portrait, with a turquoise light for both the waterpark and seas side shots.

Online Lookbook