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Director's Statement

Does the fashion industry have to depend on sweatshop labor? I was curious about all the attention American Apparel was getting, as I was hired to cover the launch of Ben Cohen's new venture, SweatX--just down the street and around the corner, it seemed Dov Charney, the founder of American Apparel had it going on--chic T-shirts, a hip young staff, workers who proclaimed they had finally found a decent place to work, with massages, healthcare, a living wage. I made trips to both factories for over two years and what I found was far more complicated. My background in labor videos and activism had somewhat prepared me for what unfolded, but I had to discard everything I thought I knew about immigrant labor, L.A. 's entrenched dichotomies, labor unions and the garment industry. American Apparel and Sweat X turned it all upside down. And in the end, as Enriqueta says, it's all about the work, the label, and what's REALLY behind it. (I still wear American Apparel underwear, I've never found anything that fits so well!).