American Apparel has a strange obsession with the female body; a menstruating vagina shirt wasn't enough for the clothing retailer as now they've taken to their mannequins to make a statement.
A New York City American Apparel store dressed their female mannequins with a sheer pair of underwear and a bra. Underneath the panties were a pubic hair and a realistic pair of nipples showed through the bra.
According to The Huffington Post, a store associate claimed the mannequins were meant to convey "rawness and realness of sexuality."
"They're aimed at drumming up sales around Valentine's Day, and it would appear it's already working: Curious pedestrians have been crowding around the store taking photos, and American Apparel has received a barrage of media inquiries," HuffPost reports.
(Warning: the following link contains graphic content. Click here to view the American Apparel mannequins)
This isn't the first time the company has used female genitals to make a statement. Back in October 2013, "American Apparel" sold the "Period Power" t-shirt, which showed an anatomically correct drawing of a menstruating female vulva.
Below is the description of the "Period Power" t-shirt, according to BuzzFeed:
"The Ardorous is an all-female online art platform curated by Petra Collins, a Toronto-born artist. Petra began her infatuation with photography at age 15 and became an American Apparel retail employee around the same time. She creates portraits exploring female sexuality and teen girl culture. Now 20, Petra has worked with Vice, Vogue Italia, Purple, Rookie, and is a contributing photographer for American Apparel."
Companies like American Apparel go for shock value while others accidentally stumble into it. Another clothing retailer, Urban Outfitters, landed themselves in hot water after selling two different shirts: once crop top had the word "depression" written all over it while the other stated "Eat Less."
Many customers took to Twitter to express their outrage against the shirts and Urban Outfitters pulled both tops off their website.
