Dov Charney, founder of the formerly high-flying retailer American Apparel Inc., filed for bankruptcy along with his latest business venture, a vintage clothing store, Bloomberg News reported. Charney was forced into bankruptcy court because he owed $30 million to a hedge fund involved with American Apparel, which shut down all of its outlets and became an online retailer after going through two of its own bankruptcies. While in bankruptcy, Charney will be able to halt any debt-collection efforts while he works out a plan to repay as much as he can. In the 1990s, Charney built American Apparel into a major retailer known for its made-in-U.S.A. marketing and racy advertising. The Los Angeles-based company became publicly traded in 2007 but within a few years, Charney was forced out as the company began losing money. It filed the first of two bankruptcies in 2015. At its height, American Apparel had more $600 million in sales from hundreds of stores and employed thousands of people, including at a manufacturing plant in California.
