'Brandy Hellville': Allegations Against Cult Gen-Z Fashion Brand

“One size fits all most”

It's the guiding ethos behind cult classic Gen-Z clothing brand Brandy Melville, known for its Americana aesthetic and stylized social media presence that pre-teen girls across the country love. But in Max's new documentary Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast FashionOscar-winning filmmaker Eva Orner explores a behind-the-scenes look at the company's culture and dozens of allegations of racism, anti-feminism, lipophobia, and disgusting fast-fashion business and production practices.

The popular Instagram account and retail empire first opened a brick-and-mortar store in 2009. While the company itself was started by Italian father-and-son production duo Silvio and Stephan Marsan, Brandy Melville defined itself on social media for its simple of (read: skinny) silhouettes and California teen — a look heavily promoted by both popular celebrities and teenage girls producing content on platforms like Tumblr, YouTube, and eventually TikTok. The brand sold plus-size clothing and became known for its marketing and recruitment practices that pushed thin, white, and beautiful young girls as its target demographic. (Neither the founders nor the brand participated in the documentary.)

But according to the documentary, behind the scenes there was a corporate culture that prioritized thinness and whiteness above all else, often to the detriment of its employees. Several former employees spoke out, describing having to take pictures of their clothes every day, which were then sent to Stephan Marsan via text. “If Stefan didn't like some of it, he would send it back to me privately and say, 'Wash her,'” a former Brandy executive said anonymously in the documentary.

Workers of color claimed that while their white colleagues were assigned to the front of the store as greeters, Asian workers were constantly forced to work the cash register, while black workers were relegated to associates and warehouse clerks, where they would be absent. the view of buyers. “Everybody was pushing us back, out of sight,” says Kali, a former employee of Brandi Melville, Black. “But it wasn't something we were necessarily angry about, because I loved being around my people, like people of color.” Workers also reported developing or continuing disordered eating practices while working at the store and feeling they had to choose between keeping their jobs or maintaining their relationships with food. (Representatives for Brandy Melville did not respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment. Brand CEO Marsan could not be reached for comment.)

As movements like body positivity and neutrality have begun to affect the fashion industry, criticism of Brandy Melville's lack of size exclusion has been constant for years with no reported effect on the store's sales. But the documentary also claims that the corporate culture inside the brand turned towards racism and anti-Semitism. In a 2021 survey, Insider mentionted that a Brandy group chat with 30-plus people — which included Marsan, his brother Yvan and the company's CFO — was full of memes, porn and Hitler jokes. In 150 screenshots reviewed by KnowledgeableHitler was mentioned 24 times and dozens included jokes about Black people and used the n-word.

Stefan also encouraged staff he and other executives deemed cool to use secret perks and bonuses, such as getting cash tips when they recommended clothing, using company-paid Ubers, or staying in a Brandy Mellville apartment in New York. According to Insider, a Brandy Melville employee stayed at the apartment in 2015 and went out to dinner with a 31-year-old manager. After two drinks, her memory faded. The then 21-year-old claimed she was drugged and raped by the manager and went to hospital for recommended HIV and STD treatment, but refused to press charges or file a police report because she feared losing her work visa and having to leave the country .

In addition to allegations of mistreatment by managers and executives, the documentary also focused on Brandy Melville's production process. While the brand's clothing carries the “made in Italy” label, further research into the company reveals that it outsources much of its textile production to sweatshops in the Tuscan city of Prato – an area dominated by unethical business practices and what the Prato police call slavery. Brandy Melville is known for its prices typically under $50, which is only achieved through a continuous cycle of trend-focused production known as fast fashion. (Essentially cheap custom clothing). But while clothes remain cheap, workers are poorly paid. And the excess from brands like Brandy Melville end up being dumped in countries of the global south like Ghana, where clothing waste has came back their oceans and waterways into disposal sites. “In the fast fashion debate for many years, it's been, 'If you criticize fast fashion, you hate poor people,'” fashion and sustainability expert Aja Barber previously said. Rolling rock. “But this narrative completely erases the fact that the poorest people in the debate are the garment workers, millions of [whom] we make our own clothes and we don't pay fair wages. You're using poor people as a scapegoat if you can't see the poorest people in the equation.”

While Brandi Hellville systematically detailing how the brand allegedly exploited employees and shoppers to make more money for executives, an important aspect of the story is that Brandy's lack of accountability has only furthered the company's financial gain. After the 2021 Insider revelation, Brandy Melville temporarily limited comments on its social media accounts but continued to sell clothing without apology or acknowledgment, a strategy that allowed the brand to avoid accountability at all times. “They're not hypocrites because they're exactly who they say they are,” Insider reporter Kate Taylor says in the documentary. “They're just racist sexist pigs.”

But Orner hopes the documentary will put more pressure on both the company and consumers to reevaluate their purchase.

“Right now it feels unstoppable and the only way to make an impact is to stop buying their clothes,” Taylor said The Hollywood Reporter. “It's all in the hands of young women. Young women have the power, so they can create content for it. They might be discussing it online and in person, and they might stop shopping there.”