American Apparel Opens Virtual Store

 American Apparel, the famed sweatshop-free clothing company from downtown Los Angeles, has added another country to the list of nations that it now operates stores in – the virtual world of Second Life.

Scheduled to open on June 17, American Apparel, with the help of renowned Second Life content creator Aimee Weber, has created a private island that melds a virtual clothing store with a public space available for users to congregate and plan events. The actual building was designed with the consultation of American Apparel’s architect, which also provided floor plans for the building.

Virtual simulacrums of 20 different types of clothing sold by American Apparel in the real world will be available to Second Life players for a price of $1 each.

Ms. Weber herself features a rather interesting history, having worked on a number of projects within Second Life. Working with the San Francisco’s Exploratorium Museum, Aimee built a virtual event for the March 29, 2006 solar eclipse in Side, Turkey which included in-game streaming video of the eclipse and a science exhibit about how the eclipse worked. Additionally, she has created a virtual simulation of New York City’s proposed New Globe Theater, and was contracted by Warner Bros. to create a 3D audio kiosk that plays streamed music from Regina Spektor’s newest album and changes lighting to suit the mood of each song.