Celebs Are Good at Pushing Merch? Who Knew 36565

Thank goodness for American Apparel’s bottom line – and the Times‘ Thursday Styles – that there was a paparazzo around to snap this shot.

After photographs appeared on tabloid covers across the country, American Apparel employees concluded that Ms. Lohan was wearing one of the company???s designs. And while this is not the sort of product placement many fashion companies would consider positive, American Apparel, which markets its casual sportswear with self-consciously randy imagery, operates antithetically to industry norms. Ms. Lohan???s picture was posted on a company blog, at americanapparel.net, and at least one store in Manhattan pasted the Daily News front page near a display of the $40 ???flex fleece??? sweatshirts, causing a run.

???We don???t do celebrity branding,??? said Mathew Swenson, a spokesman for American Apparel, noting that Ms. Lohan had to have purchased the sweatshirt on her own. ???We don???t gift to editors or to celebrities.???

They only do “taking advantage of pitiful celebrities who replace absent love from their parents with cute Hello Kitty powder dispenser.”