Gawker: The American Apparel Dress Code

Assuming this is real, it’s basically nuts: American Apparel seems to be shifting focus entirely from Madonna-as-icon to dorky 1980s Harvard. Converse shoes are banned, as are visible piercings and tattoos. Really? Now, AA is a company flailing about financially and widely reported as being run by schmucks — but does this speak to a larger trend re: youth culture/hipster style? Or is AA desperately moving away from its target audience? You tell me, Tumblr kids.