By now, two things are almost ubiquitous with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign: His “Make America Great Again” merchandise and his desire to build a wall to keep out illegal immigrants from Mexico. But, it seems that one is contradicting another, after WWD spotted an American Apparel tag on some Trump merchandise at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
This is interesting for a few reasons: Los Angeles-based American Apparel has been inclined to hire immigrant workers. American Apparel has been very outspoken about its support of immigration, especially in Southern California. While Trump has made his feelings on immigrant workers from Mexico fairly clear. And, recently, the company released LGBTQA-themed apparel with the slogan, “Make America Gay Again,” a parody of Trump’s slogan.
“American Apparel is a company that stands for inclusiveness, as is evidenced by our campaigns tackling issues, such as immigration reform, discrimination, marriage and gender equality,” a spokesperson for American Apparel told Promo Marketing. “Because we believe in free trade, we sell our American-made T-shirts to thousands of screen printers across the country, allowing them to sell to any customers they choose.”
So, while Trump and American Apparel may not see eye-to-eye on many social issues, the company asserted that its commitment to a free market takes precedence. The company did, however, acknowledge the gap in beliefs between it and Trump.
“Since we cannot control our wholesalers’ business practice, we want to emphasize that our core values do not always align with the messages printed on the end-consumers’ product,” the spokesperson added.
So, now we know American Apparel at least can put aside its differences with Trump for the sake of fair play and business. We can only assume that this is how the Trump campaign felt as well.
For more information on American Apparel, visit www.americanapparel.net.
