Los Angeles Apparel—founded by former American Apparel CEO Dov Charney—is about to open its first-ever New York City store.
The new location is set for 480 Broadway in SoHo, right between Broome and Grand Streets, taking over the space that once belonged to Topshop.
The brand has only operated online and out of its Los Angeles factory warehouse until now, making this a major shift.
And while the store isn’t open yet—it’s set to launch this summer, customers already have a lot to say about it.
Some shoppers are already feeling nostalgic
TikTok user @sarahfromnewyork shared her thoughts about the news in a recent video that’s now pulled in over 59,900 views.
“Is this the ultimate recession indicator?” she asks at the start of the video
She then went on to explain how impactful American Apparel once was to her own teenage years.
“A huge informative part of my adolescence was stopping by American Apparel on my way home from school,” she shares. “I went to middle school in Chelsea, and their 7th Avenue location was so sick.”
Of course, she didn’t forget the popular ad campaigns.
“American Apparel’s ad campaigns from the 2010s were entirely formative for so many of us,” she says. One campaign in particular?
“The 2011 footwear campaign rewired my brain chemistry and nearly put me in a coma when I first saw it,” she says, stitching a photo of the campaign in the background of her video.
To her, shopping in person brings back a very specific feel. “It just makes me think of Arctic Monkeys and LCD Soundsystem and HBO Girls era in New York,” she shares.
She concludes the video by clarifying a key distinction for viewers: While this is Los Angeles Apparel and not American Apparel, the connection between the two brands is significant.
“Granted, this is LA Apparel, not American Apparel,” she states. “But you know, I’m personally very excited for this store opening.
@sarahfromnewyork American Apparel and LA Apparel are different companies with the same founder, and LA Apparel is kind of a spawn of AA so excited to see how the LA Apparel stores compare to the OG AA stores! 💕 #americanapparel #losangelesapparel #nyc #soho ♬ original sound – Sarah Torkornoo
Tumblr-core and tariff talk in the comments
Under the video, comments flooded in—mostly from those who remember the era all too well.
“Stawpppp ittttt. tumblr girlies unite… being in the city in 2012 rocking the disco pants was a time,” one said.
Another asked, “I wonder if they are taking advantage of the tariffs.”
And one person just learned something new. “Wow feeling silly for not knowing that LA apparel is American Apparel’s rebrand,” they wrote.
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