American Apparel a hipster darling no more as bankruptcy looms

Montreal - Dov Charney, a 41-year-old eccentric Montreal native, built into a global retail powerhouse in seven short years while taking substantial heat for his loose hiring policies, risqué ads and alleged sexual harassment of former employees. Now, with regulators breathing down his neck, lenders shying away and the chain warning it might not have enough available cash to keep operating another year, Mr. Charney could be forced to relinquish control of the company he built from the footless plush pantyhose up. “Dov Charney is at the moment of truth,” said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates Inc.,