Canadian Apparel ⇥ jezebel.com

Ellie Shechet, Jezebel:

The charred remains of long-embattled retailer American Apparel were bought at auction for $88 million by Canada’s Gildan Activewear, which plans to close its 110 remaining U.S. stores and shutter its Los Angeles manufacturing facilities. At its height in 2007, American Apparel was valued at nearly $1 billion, and late last year at between $180 and $270 million.

Around 3,500 factory and headquarters workers are expected to lose their jobs.

I’m a huge fan of American Apparel’s basics, so this news is pretty heartbreaking. The fashion industry is particularly unethical, but AA challenged aspects of that (while, of course, creating its own ethical quandaries). If you’re looking for basics made in countries with stronger employee protections, you might be interested in Stanfield’s, Reigning Champ, and Royal Apparel.