As soon as we began driving down Alameda towards the factory, I could already see loads of kids skipping across the streets with huge white bags. It seemed as though Santa Claus had paid downtown LA an early visit this year.
It all began with an email that was sent to the American Apparel newsletter subscribers. The flyer stated that they would be having a “flea market” with many clothing piles priced from $1-$10 max. Apart from the clothing blow-out sale there would be live bands, food, and alcohol beverages; all of which would equal a hipster’s Sunday dreamland.
All Out Riot
The madness began way before 12 noon and continued for over 6 hours. At least that’s what I was told, considering I did not make it until about 3:30pm or so. Upon our late arrival to the factory, I could notice the line out in the distance. When I got closer however, I then noticed that it continued even farther off into the horizon. Could this be? 3 ½ hours after the flea market began and there was still a mile-long line?! Instead of waiting in the line I proceeded to walk towards what sounded like live Latin rock n’ roll music. After passing a couple of taco trucks and walking towards the center of two factory buildings, I saw a few friends of mine and walked up to them. I walk in front of the stage and continue around the railing. As I was saying my hellos I get a tap on the shoulder by a security guard who asks for identification. It turns out I walked into the bar area. I immediately turn around to register where I was exactly, and to my surprise, there they were! Huge piles of clothing. Mind you, I didn’t know I was sneaking in at the time. In the end all I had to do to bypass the line was to simply walk in.
Upon entering the clothing area, I was greeted by mobs of people climbing all over each other. I also noticed that the clothing piles didn’t just consist of clothes either, but also consisted of children crawling through them as if they were McDonald’s ball pits. After dodging the children, everything began a little too overwhelming. Instead of continuing through the obstacle course of clothing and people, I instead soog back and observed the chaos. The $1 piles consisted of mostly underwear, socks, infant clothing, and the occasional K-9 items. The $4 piles had some t-shirts, long-sleeves, sweat pants, and swim wear. Finally, the $7 and $10 piles contained more t-shirts, hoodies, turtle-necks, and random jeans (most of which had defects). After finally finding the all black hoodie I was after, I began walking back to the bar area to sit back and observe the bands and DJs. On the way back however, I was confronted by a marching mariachi band playing all those classic mariachi tunes we all know and love.
Live Noise!
Two bands in total played throughout the day, both of who are featured on the Happy-Fi record label based out of Monterrey, Mexico. Those bands were Quiero Club and Niña. Both bands are a mixture of Spanish dance-pop and alternative. The mariachi band also performed a small opening act as well. Between each band there were rotating DJs who are all featured on the web-based radio station viva-radio.com, and photos were being taken throughout the event by Mark Hunter (thecobrasnake.com) and his posse.
Overall the day seemed like a great success for American Apparel, and for all of its dedicated shoppers. After seeing my fair share of chaos and madness, and not being able to take anymore, I finally decided to leave. Considering the mass amounts of clothing that were sold at such an unbelievably low price that day (plain t-shirts sell for anywhere between $15-$26 online), I’m not going to be surprised if I start seeing hobos wearing American Apparel on the streets of good ol’ Downtown LA.
Photo courtesy of www.thecobrasnake.com
