Standard & Poor’s downgraded American Apparel Inc.’s credit rating on Friday, saying a restructuring of the downtown L.A. clothier appeared inevitable. The rating agency lowered American Apparel’s corporate credit rating to CCC- from CCC. It also dropped the rating on the company’s $200 million in senior secured notes to CC from CCC-.

S&P called the clothing company’s profitability weak and highly volatile, and said improvements in its performance were slower than expected, leading to the conclusion that it could be difficult for the company to amend its credit facility or loosen covenants.

“The downgrade reflects our assessment that a debt restructuring appears inevitable within six months, absent unanticipated significantly favorable changes in the company’s circumstances,” said S&P Credit Analyst Ryan Ghose.

In a release, the agency said American Apparel faces “continued uncertainty” at its senior management level following the board’s suspension of Dov Charney, its chief executive, in June. Because of the unstable management and the fact that the specialty apparel segment is highly competitive – subject to both fashion risk and still-weak consumer spending – the agency gave American Apparel a business assessment of “vulnerable.”

The downgrade went into effect one day after American Apparel said a new director, food executive Robert Mintz, had been nominated Lion Capital, which holds warrants to buy 12 percent of the retailer’s stock.