Dov Charney

Who is Dov Charney?

Dov Charney is a Canadian businessman and the founder and CEO of American Apparel, a clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer which he started at age 20.

As a fashion entrepreneur, he's known for a passion for simple basic clothing and unusual leadership style, which includes being involved in nearly every part of the business process from design, manufacturing, and marketing.

At American Apparel, Charney pioneered the Made in USA sweatshop-free model of fair wages and a refusal to outsource manufacturing. Charney has also been associated with several controversial lawsuits, including a $10M lawsuit from film director Woody Allen and sexual harassment lawsuits involving ex-employees.

The Los Angeles Times named him as one of the Top 100 powerful people in Southern California and in 2009, he was nominated as a Time 100 finalist by Time magazine.