American Apparel’s Ongoing Love Affair with Hasidic Jews

The store’s Tumblr page has a fresh new face

By Romy Zipken - for Jewcy

American Apparel, famous for its sticky, sparkly onesies, is bordering obsessive in regard to Yiddish culture (see: American Apparel’s Black Nail Polish Color is Called ‘Hassid’). The store’s Tumblr page, typically adorned with heroin-chic models sportin’ side ponytails and see-through blouses, has a new face —a face with payos.

Meet Yoel Weisshaus. Yoel, a Chasidish Jew who grew up in a Yiddish speaking home in Brooklyn, attended Yeshiva at an early age. Yoel is a peasant with chutzpa known for suing the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey over its controversial toll hikes, at prices that exceed twofold what one earns per hour under the minimum wage. Yoel is talented and drafts his own pleadings because he cannot afford an attorney, his case is still ongoing. He freelances in sales of American made braidings and ribbons for local garments and hat manufactures. Yoel has an accent because English is not his first language, but he is still striving to learn English writing.

Props and daps to Weisshaus for a job well done in the garment industry. Maybe “Peasant with Chutzpa” will be the company’s next look—shtreimels and Deep V Tee’s.