Just a week after a bankruptcy court nixed Dov Charney’s plan to regain control of American Apparel comes word that the retailer’s founder and former CEO is working on a new clothing store that, on the surface, sounds a lot like American Apparel.
On Monday, Women’s Wear Daily reported that Chad Hagan, managing partner and group president of Roswell, Ga.-based investment firm Hagan Capital Group, and Charney are developing a new apparel company that will focus on basics like underwear and t-shirts for men and women manufactured entirely in the U.S., starting by focusing on wholesale channel in a strategy very similar to American Apparel’s.
“What’s important to us now is we’re able to form this new venture and put Dov at the helm and we’re going to do basics again,” Hagan told WWD. “We don’t want to just start with some funny, online brand. We’re going to do what Dov does best and then establish a robust e-commerce system. But we will not be debuting just as an online retailer.” Fortune was not immediately able to reach Hagan for comment.
Charney, Hagan and Silver Creek Capital Partners tried recently to buy American Apparel for about $300 million, a bid that was rejected the company, which filed for bankruptcy last year. A bankruptcy court signed off on American Apparel’s reorganization plan. Charney was fired in late 2014 and has found himself embroiled in lawsuits and countersuits with American Apparel.