While he defends the practice of using photos as part of store hiring decisions, Dov Charney insists that American Apparel isn’t checking out anything more than they should (personal style and presentation) when it comes to photo submissions. And you know – he’s believable, even if we don’t agree with the practice 100%.

Nearly all jobs – particularly retail, have uniforms or appearance standards. And while demeanor, experience and other qualities might be bigger concerns if you were responsible for hiring someone, the fact is that style matters. That’s not to say that the policy isn’t extremely superficial – it is. But Charney challenges, if you’re running a business based on appearances, shouldn’t the superficial things play a role?

For more than an hour, we spoke with the American Apparel CEO about the photo based hiring process, Gawker’s coverage of the matter, the company’s attitude towards plus sized shoppers, why those down sales numbers are overblown  and the trouble in trying to pin down bon goût (good taste, in French).

On Hiring Based on Appearances

The Fine Line Between Judgment and Targeting

The Business Effects

What About Those “Off Brand” Customers?

If you're used to their ads, is a head-to-toe photo hiring policy REALLY that shocking?

A new policy states that job applicants being referred by a current employee must submit a “full body head to toe” picture to the person referring them, who then passes it on to the email address work@americanapparel.net, where the photo is screened for approval, according to a transcript of an internal American Apparel conference call obtained by Gawker.

The sketchiest part is that employees transferring photos to the above e-mail address are required to do so from their personal e-mail account, not a company one. {The Cut}

A source told Gawker that in fact all prospective employees must have a full body photo taken and sent to the e-mail address to be considered for employment. The importance of the applicant’s resumé in the hiring process comes in a distant second.

Current employees are subject to this kind of body screening as well. The new policy reportedly says that in order for workers to receive a promotion or raise, their photo must be approved. Apparently, how well the person does their job is of less importance, and district employees who dislike a workerâ€s photo will refer to them as “off brand.”

American Apparel CEO Dov Charney.

When questioned about the new store policy, American Apparel Spokesman Ryan Holiday referred Gawker to the same statement issued a year ago, which said the company does not screen photos for attractiveness but to ensure an employeeâ€s personal style is a good match for their brandâ€s style. He also said current employee photos are only requested “from time to time” to be certain employees are styling themselves well in the brandâ€s clothing and showcasing their new products effectively.

There’s no word on how far up the food chain the policy extends, but with sales down, an operating loss of $17.6 million and a 41% drop in the price of shares, perhaps it’s time to consider a hiring process that’s based more on substance than style. {LA Times}

It’s a disgusting policy – and particularly rich when you see founder Dov Charney’s photos and realize he probably wouldn’t make the cut, but is likely behind the criteria that deem other people attractive enough to hold a position. And while repulsive, it’s not illegal in the United States so long as attractiveness as a hiring qualification is not based on race, gender or another protected class.
In fairness, American Apparel might be unfairly targeted just because they happened to get caught. While this is a more in your face case, Abercrombie & Fitch has come under fire for similar hiring practices in the past, and each incident brings tales of retail workers who’ve experienced some level of appearance based criticism during their career. Our guess is that tons of stores hire and fire based on appearance. Perhaps they could give American Apparel lessons in doing it more discreetly.