The Australian website also features images of a semi-naked young woman it says is "Liz, an American Apparel Melbourne retail employee". In one shot, the former Melbourne retail assistant is pictured topless, in a short skirt, her long hair covering just one breast. In another, she is lying provocatively in a leotard, on an unmade bed. The company, which opened its first Australian store in Melbourne in March last year, and has since opened stores in Sydney and Adelaide, is renowned for using staff in its advertising campaigns that are often shot by its controversial LA-based founder, Dov Charney. It also asks prospective sales staff to submit up to three photos of themselves as part of the job application process. Katrina George, a spokeswoman for Women's Forum Australia, condemned the company's use of "dangerous" and "pornographic" images. "It goes without saying that most of the images of women on that website are overtly sexualised and some of them you would have to call pornographic. It's another example of the normalisation of pornography in popular culture."

Ms George said it was also concerning that the men on the site were not sexualised in the same way women were. Clive Hamilton, the professor of public ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, and former chief of the Australia Institute, which issued the 2006 report, Corporate Pedophilia, on the use of images of children in advertising, is also concerned about the impact the images could have on children. "Clearly they are using pornographic-style images, pornographic-style poses in order to promote the product, and what it does is it normalises the pornographic genre," he said. "On this website there is also a section for children's clothes, which means kids who go to have a look at the website for clothes for themselves are just one click away from adult women posing in ways that are unquestionably sexually provocative." The Advertising Standards Bureau's chief executive officer, Fiona Jolly, was unavailable for comment but The Sun-Herald understands that it has not received any complaints about the imagery.

Ms George also raised concerns that young American Apparel staff might feel "pressured" to appear in the company's provocative advertising campaigns. However, a spokeswoman for American Apparel said it only used staff who "applied" to take part. "We very often photograph employees to appear in ads and catalogues, on our website and in-store art," said the spokeswoman. "Employees and fans of the company apply to model for us on a daily basis, we also sometimes scout them on our own. Photo shoots are often done with members of our creative team or other employees, like in Liz's case." Since launching the label in 1997, Mr Charney has been the subject of four sexual harassment lawsuits brought by former employees. None have been proven in court. In 2004, an article in the now-defunct US women's magazine, Jane, accused Mr Charney of masturbating in front of the reporter. He has never denied the allegation but said it was consensual.