American Apparel's Back to School Lolita Wear

American Apparel's Lolita Wear

Time reported on the backlash that American Apparel received on social media after the company posted raunchy pictures on its Instagram account of "... a girl bending over a car, revealing her underwear and buttocks under her skirt." In addition, the company is selling Lolita mini skirts and crop tops. 

The fact that American Apparel is basing their sexy campaign on 12-year-old Lolita, whom initiated sex with H.H., her middle-aged step-father, and gave him (paid) hand-jobs while he looked alluringly upon other nymphets, is revealing. 

In reality, the campaign is a reflection of raunchy teen behavior. American Apparel is selling teens what they, teens, want. Like Douglas Rushkoff mentioned in the documentary Merchants of Cool (2001), "It's a feedback loop." (i.e., American Apparel wants to be a cool company that sells sexy clothes, and cool teens want to wear sexy clothes.) 

The Guardian reported previously:

The UK advertising watchdog has banned a campaign by the retailer American Apparel for using a partially nude model, who appeared to be under 16, in a series of images that suggested she was "stripping off for an amateur-style photo shoot". 

The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint that it could be seen by children and inappropriate because the model seemed "young and vulnerable and [the ad] could be seen to sexualise a child"."

A spokesperson for American Apparel defended the advertisement by saying that the model is 23-years-old and that the advertisement was meant to highlight the hoodie and not the girl's cleavage and breasts. Thus, the model only looks like a nymphet and viewers should be concentrating on the Flex Fleece and not the model's tan lined breasts.