by Vito Rispo

American Apparel doesn’t do high gloss sexy like Abercrombie or Calvin Klein. There’s no silicone or collagen or Botox. There’s no major Photoshopping or retouching the models. It’s a reflection of our idea of what sexy is as a society.

The perfect blonde on the beach is leaving our collective fantasy; our idea of sexy isn’t defined by film or by print anymore, it’s defined by the internet. Our generation has unprecedented access to smut, and it’s infiltrated our definitions of beauty and our everyday fantasies. Gonzo porn is our sensual fantasy now. Set in some freaks house as a 19 year old meth-addicted girl with low self-esteem knocks on the door. “I’m here for the party.”

Hott.





Arguably, both American Apparel and Calvin Klein ads show the same amount of skin. AA’s ads are so much more intense because they remind us of the filthy business we look up late at night. That’s why they’re so successful. These are the images we associate with sex now, and American Apparel copies them perfectly.

We’re jaded to all the Calvin Klein ads set in tropical locations and shot in sepia. We need real color regular girls who look like they’re about to have sex. We need barely legal.

Check out the ads: