Are American Apparel 1301s still the same quality? Details explored as Trainwreck on Netflix tops charts

With the tagline, ‘Ethically Made, Sweatshop Free’, American Apparel became a brand to be reckoned with for the longest time. However, the brand has a turbulent history, thanks to the many controversial campaigns and alleged allegations against CEO Dov Charney. Netflix’s Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel brought forth interviews and stories from behind the scenes.

The 54-minute docuseries shed light on the quality of the brand's clothing. Over the years, many buyers have pointed at the quality decline of Alstyle 1301 by American Apparel, which is one of their more popular products.

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Netflix’s Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel: American Apparel’s quality questioned by buyers

One of the top docuseries on Netflix, The Cult of American Apparel brought forth the many troubles of the once eminent clothing brand. From financial challenges to harassment charges, the company came under public scrutiny for creating a toxic work environment for the employees.

Gildan Activewear acquired the American Apparel brand and some assets at the Bankruptcy-court supervised auction in 2017. The company bid $88 Million for the acquisition of the worldwide intellectual property rights to the brand. Alstyle Apparel, known for their high-quality blank apparels was purchased by Gildan Activewear in 2016 and later became a part of the American Apparel.

One of the more significant aspect about Alstyle 1301 blank t-shirts were their excellent quality, making it not just premium but also a more sought-after apparel choice. Some of the regular buyers of the popular Alstyle 1301 took to social media to share their disappointment at the decline in the quality of the blanks.

A buyer shared on Reddit: “First thing I noticed was bad QC in general, tolerances between one shirt and another would be completely different, collar/neck areas wouldn't lay flat like how they used to be/some collars already stretched, and the worst part was how the area right below the neck/collar on the back of the shirt came 'poking out' horizontally in a few areas as if it really got poked with a pen - so if someone wore it, it wouldn't lay flat down their upper back..Are the blanks I fondly remember long gone? Got them on BIankstyIe - literally almost every single tee had something that was visibly different than the next one…”

Another buyer wrote: “It's not gildan junk just like American apparel the quality is no where near what we made then. Those quality's are long gone.”

Alstyle blank t-shirt’s quality has been affected as per the regular buyers, who feel that the new 1301 no longer feels or looks the same.

A buyer wrote: “Alstyle 1301 went down the s*itter. I have old unwashed shirts that are heavy as hell, and all the new product is really just awful. Afaik the old 1301 was 10oz while the new ones are 8.1oz which is a huge difference. It doesn’t have the slubby streetwear feel and look anymore :(."

The Netflix’s Trainwreck series has put the spotlight on the American Apparel. While the brand once promoted ‘Made in USA’, the clothing is now mostly manufactured in Central America.

Watch Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel on Netflix.

ALSO READ: Who is Jonny Makeup from Netflix's Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel? Explained in depth

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