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With edgy marketing, an audacious founder and quality clothing sewn in Los Angeles, American Apparel was held up as a rare success story in U.S. manufacturing at a time when many in the garment industry were racing overseas.

But after years of turmoil, American Apparel is selling its brand in a bankruptcy auction to Canada’s Gildan Activewear — ending its 20-year-run as one of the country’s biggest garment makers and the employer of about 3,500 factory workers in Southern California.

Gildan agreed to pay $88 million to buy the brand and some manufacturing equipment. The company had no interest in American Apparel’s 110 U.S. stores, and opted not to assume leases on its distribution center in La Mirada and production facilities in Garden Grove and South Gate, Gildan spokesman Garry Bell said.

“This was always about buying assets out of bankruptcy,” Bell said. “The reality is this wasn’t a purchase of an ongoing concern.”

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