Six Questions with Memoirist Kate Flannery

We talk American Apparel, Drag Race and her memoir Strip Tees

Kate Flannery’s memoir of her time working at American Apparel in the early 2000s, Strip Tees, was one of my most anticipated titles of the year — and I’m happy to report it was even better than I hoped.

For those who need a reminder, American Apparel was one of the It Brands of the early aughts, filling a gap left by the fading Abercrombie & Fitch. It was known for its racy photoshoots and wild CEO Dov Charney, who was forced out in 2014 after facing a series of sexual harassment lawsuits.

Kate’s memoir dissects the raunchy sex-positive feminism of the time, while delivering jaw-dropping revelations about her experiences at the company. It’s already been optioned for a screen adaptation. Kate, who works for the Emmy Award-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race, was kind enough to chat about her day job (she can’t give us any spoilers though) and her book. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Kate’s publisher, Henry Holt, will send a copy of Strip Tees to three subscribers of this newsletter (U.S entries only). To enter, leave a comment describing the weirdest job you ever had. (Feel free to change details if you need to protect the not-so-innocent.)

What was your path to writing and publishing?

I studied writing in college, and I always considered myself to be a writer. But then, life and bills got in the way.  I got away from writing and got involved in reality television, which is good in some ways and also kind of rotten in others, but it paid the bills and I was in the union. I started feeling like there was something missing and I really needed to get back to writing this story that lived in my brain.

As soon as I started working at American Apparel, the writer switch in my brain turned on. I thought ‘You’re going to write about this someday. There’s some weird stuff going on here.’ I started right away on a fictional version, but with the time away, I realized it should be a memoir.

When I think back to when I was first out of college, I had no idea what was normal in a workplace. Did you pick up on the weirdness of American Apparel immediately?

It was the whole frog in a boiling pot situation. Right from the start, things were getting hot, but just culturally the feminism that was popular at that moment caused me to kind of stay in the hot tub for a little bit too long. And before I knew it, I couldn't really get out.

Can you talk more about how the feminism of the early 2000s compares to now?

It's funny. 2004 doesn't seem like that long ago. But culturally, it really was a totally different time, especially for young women. The sex positivity of the time was celebrity sex tapes and Playboy spreads. We were living in post-AIDS culture where sex wasn't maybe as scary as we had always thought. It was the “Girls Gone Wild” era, really an exploitative era.

It created the perfect storm for a place like American Apparel to really thrive and for me to think that I could find a home there after coming from a place like Bryn Mawr College [editor’s note: the Seven Sisters college Kate and I graduated from], which is a feminist utopia in many ways.

Knowing what you do now, would you do it all again?

Absolutely. I still find myself saying that was one of the best jobs I ever had. I learned so much about myself and my capabilities. I became extremely confident. A lot of the women that I worked with went on to build other companies and sell them. I don't know any other huge corporation that would have been giving those opportunities to 23-year-old women. I'm really grateful for the things that I learned there. It also was a lot of fun.

I was reading this interview with Reese Witherspoon and she was talking about filming this famous roller coaster scene in “Fear” with Marky Mark. It was a sexual scene that wasn't in the script that the director kind of sprung on her that day and she felt pressure to do it. She was uncomfortable doing it, but she did it. She said “it was a traumatizing experience for me, but it let me know my place in the pecking order.”

That's kind of how I feel about American Apparel. It wasn't the great trauma of my life. I made friendships that are still my dearest friendships. I learned a lot about myself. I traveled widely. I had a ton of fun, but it certainly let me know my place in the pecking order.

What’s it like working on “RuPaul’s Drag Race”? Who’s your favorite queen?

When we aren't working remotely, we all work in this incredible art deco office on Hollywood Boulevard. Miss J. Alexander will just be sitting at the reception desk outfit-checking you. Then you get in the elevator and there's like your favorite queen in there coming to do pickups. It's just a total fairy tale kind of place to work.

It’s so amazing to sit with these queens and hear their stories and their funny jokes. It's like, that's the fun that I deal with every day and it's best.

Utica Queen

Choosing a favorite is difficult but two of mine are Willow Pill and Utica. Willow is such a superstar and genuine person. Utica just like steals my heart. Every season I have a new favorite. I certainly have a favorite from the season that we're doing now, but that’s all under wraps.

Lastly, any books you want to recommend?

I am halfway through The Elissas by Samantha Leach and I love it. It’s such a good companion piece to Strip Tees. It's about the troubled teen industry in the same time period, the new millennium. Right when Paris Hilton went to one of those facilities. It's just so well done. I really love nonfiction and it's great. I highly recommend.

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Thanks again to Kate for chatting. You can follow her on Instagram and buy Strip Tees here.  

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway. I can’t wait to hear everyone’s job stories.

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