{"id":725,"date":"2013-04-23T13:26:33","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T17:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/?p=725"},"modified":"2013-04-23T13:26:33","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T17:26:33","slug":"dov-charney-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/2013\/04\/23\/dov-charney-tales\/","title":{"rendered":"Dov (Charney) Tales…"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Hi Everyone!<\/span><\/p>\n

Before I leave for Asia on Thursday to cover the Hong Kong Gifts & Premiums Show for an upcoming issue of ASI’s supplier magazine <\/span>I edit, I wanted to give you a sneak peek of the cover story, “Game Changers: The Industry’s Five Most Maverick CEOs<\/a>,” in the new edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DovWho’s number one on my list?\u00a0T<\/span>he person I’ve been asked about most often in the 16 years I’ve been in the industry: American Apparel\u2019s Dov Charney. Dov and I have been friends for 10 years now, as we first met when I profiled him for Counselor <\/em>magazine. He wasn\u2019t the famous personality he is now, but even then, I knew he was about as unique and unconventional as they come. He is, and always has been, a human A bomb.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now let me acknowledge what everyone is thinking: Yes, he is a lunatic, and yes, he makes questionable business decisions to say the least. But he is also \u2013 and I\u2019ll stand by this statement every time \u2013 the most talented marketer I\u2019ve ever met<\/em>. While the rest of us are limited to five senses, Dov has a sixth \u2013 the ability to spot trends well ahead of the masses and craft them into a lifestyle brand that the hippest of demographics covet. And say what you will about his business acumen, but after a roller coaster of profits and losses, American Apparel\u2019s sales have been on a steady incline of late; its promo division\u2019s sales increased from $90.2 million in 2011 to $96.8 million in 2012.<\/p>\n

Without question, maverick CEOs share a few traits: a refusal to accept the status quo, a willingness to fail, and the guts to make tough decisions and stand by them (not to mention a touch of ADHD).<\/p>\n

And that is quintessential Dov Charney. Whenever he shows up in the news \u2013 and let\u2019s face it: he\u2019s not unfamiliar with the inside of a lawyer\u2019s office \u2013 friends ask me what he\u2019s really <\/em>like. Here\u2019s what I say: It\u2019s simply not in his DNA to ask permission to do whatever he wants with American Apparel, even now as it\u2019s a publicly-traded company; it wouldn\u2019t even dawn<\/em> on him to care what people think. And I remind people that a lot of what\u2019s been written about him is sensationalized and exaggerated for effect. In reality, Dov is quite charming, very sweet, more than a little geeky and utterly harmless \u2013 with a big intellect, a bigger mouth and a personality that could most politely be described as weapons-grade wacko. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are a few people in the industry who unnerve me to the depths of my soul \u2013 including one head of a Top 40 company with whom I wouldn\u2019t be alone without a taser and pepper spray. Dov Charney \u2013 with his jaw-dropping talent and despite his over-the-top eccentricities \u2013 I\u2019d happily spend time with any day of the week because when he\u2019s creating and innovating, there\u2019s nothing more mesmerizing. You never know if you\u2019ll get the genius, the mad man or both.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cheers, and more from Hong Kong next week!<\/span><\/p>\n

— M<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Everyone! Before I leave for Asia on Thursday to cover the Hong Kong Gifts & Premiums Show for an upcoming issue of ASI’s supplier magazine I edit, I wanted to give you a sneak peek of the cover story, “Game Changers: The Industry’s Five Most Maverick CEOs,” in the new edition. Who’s number one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=725"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":742,"href":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions\/742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellwether-asicentral.com\/bellblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}