This article gives a point of view of American Apparel from the perspective of a fairly new company in a hotly competitive market. Lipke, the author, focuses on cutting down costs by the company to pay off the company’s debts, however after years of financial success, production problems have brought up costs in their LA facilities and lowered profitability.
American Apparel applies product costing in tracking and assessing the expenses involved in the manufacturing process and selling costs, from raw materials purchases to costs incurred in transiting the finished products to retail stores (Lipke, 1).
The article stresses that the main focus is on interdependent of the decision making process needed in apparel product development. Due to the kind of competitive environment American Apparel is operating in, product costing is essential for its survival in the market.
American Apparel has established an elaborate inquiry that provides accurate information of a product’s real cost and benefit. American Apparel has recognized that its competitiveness is improved by purchasing, processing, logistics, and product design affiliates implement total lifecycle costing.
American Apparel is trying to strengthen their management ranks with new talent and reduce inventory. Furthermore, the company mentions that they are a new company that has not worked out all the kinks yet and they are working hard to become more stable in the economy.
Empirically, the article states, “(earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) ratio was increased to 2 (from 1.75) in the first quarter of 2010, and to 1.9 (from 1.65) in the second quarter”, and adds that, “The changes will enable American Apparel to access a larger amount of its $75 million credit facility with Bank of America” (Lipke, 2)
Seidler, Ben. “Fur Takes Center Stage Again.” The New York Times. September 9th Sept. 2010. Web.
This article focuses on fashion material sourcing and selection as seen during the autumn/winter 2010 runway; fur has been a fashionable preference for fashion artisans, not only in the traditional Milan and Paris, but also in New York and London. Material sourcing is not only meant to maintain a theme in a collection, but also is cost efficient on the consumers.
It also shows the ability of designers and the creativity of artisans in working with different materials; in the apparel industry designers and merchandisers find different and creative ways in using fabrics and materials, such as trim, for different products other than the original designed garment.
Not only was fur used for the typical, fur coat, but designers used fur as a source for many other uses as well. Observed in this autumn/winter 2010 runway were fur skirts, hats, and bags. Seidler (3) states that fur could be “feathered, shredded, unlined, or knitted”. This is mainly due to the elevated amount of fur on the runway this year.
Although with the emphasis was on real fur this season, some designers decided to opt for the faux fur as well. Along with fur and many other fabrics in our wardrobe, there are many new and creative ways of using fur items for other resources. In addition, with the given today’s technology there will continue to be other ways in using our materials productively. Even artificial fur is been used by designers to explore the aesthetic and textured nature of artificial fur (Seidler, 5).
Works Cited
Lipke, David. “American Apparel Focuses on Fundamentals”. WWD Issue. 1st April 2010. Web.
Seidler, Ben. “Fur Takes Center Stage Again.” The New York Times. September 9th Sept. 2010. Web.