Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion focuses on the business practices of Brandy Melville, detailing allegations of
antisemitism,
discrimination based on weight, inappropriate interactions with
minors,
racism, and
sexual assault. Many of these accusations center on Brandy Melville's founder and
chief executive officer, Stephan Marsan. The documentary includes interviews with various people affiliated with the company, including former employees.
Allegations of bigotry The film describes allegations by journalist Kate Taylor and former employees that Marsan consistently acted in a racist and
body-shaming manner toward employees. These include claims that
White employees were commonly given public-facing roles in stores while
people of color were assigned to tasks in the back, Taylor states that two racism-related
lawsuits have been filed against Brandy Melville. Former employees also allege that they were made to feel bad about their bodies, that some employees were explicitly offered jobs or fired because of their
body shape, and that employees were made to take full-body photos of themselves at the start of each shift, sending them to Marsan and an assistant who ran the brand's
Instagram page. One employee states that Marsan saved some of these photos in a file, and another reported having received requests for employees' "chest and feet" to be included in the full-body photos. A former
vice president says in an interview that Marsan fired employees whose photos he didn't like. Multiple employees say that they had
eating disorders while working for Brandy Melville. Multiple executives allege that Marsan viewed the brand's "one size fits most" policy as a way to maintain its exclusivity, and that he was happy that it was being criticized. Two former associates of Brandy Melville state in interviews that antisemitic, misogynistic, and racist jokes were sent in a large company
group chat called "Brandy Melville Gags," including an image of Marsan dressed as
Adolf Hitler and photos of him mocking
Black people. A screenshot included in the documentary shows an
emaciated woman wearing a sash with the words "Miss Auschwitz, 1943." A former store owner states that members of the Italian manufacturing division and store owners were in the chat, as well as Marsan and his brother. In the film, former employees also allege that Marsan, a self-described
libertarian, discussed politics with his young female employees and routinely became upset when many of them supported
Bernie Sanders. He also allegedly distributed copies of
Atlas Shrugged, a novel by
Ayn Rand that supports
capitalism. A
private label of Brandy Melville is named
John Galt, after a character in
Atlas Shrugged.
Sexual assault allegations Taylor reports on an alleged sexual assault at the "Brandy apartment" in
SoHo, Manhattan. Former Brandy Melville employees who stayed at the apartment state that men would unexpectedly enter and sometimes stay overnight. In a hospital report, a 21-year-old employee alleged that after being offered the apartment as a place to stay while in the United States on a
visa, she went drinking with an older Italian man who was unexpectedly also staying in the apartment. After having two drinks, she reported that her memory lapsed and she woke up naked in the apartment. The hospital report stated that she had been "raped by her boss and didn’t want to report it" because she was afraid she would have to leave the United States if she lost her job.
Fast fashion The film additionally characterizes Brandy Melville as a fast fashion company. It alleges that while clothing "Made in Italy" is often considered luxurious in the United States, the brand's clothing is likely manufactured in fast fashion facilities in
Prato.
Matteo Biffoni, the mayor of Prato, says in an interview that there are several fast fashion factories in Prato, and that some use unethical labor practices. The documentary also states that the business model of Brandy Melville sometimes involves making near-exact copies of clothing purchased elsewhere by employees, and former employees allege that executives sometimes offered to purchase the outfits the employees were wearing so the brand could copy and manufacture them. It also describes the way many items of fast fashion clothing end up in
Accra where they are resold or dumped and end up in the ocean and on beaches. Taylor discusses the corporate structure of Brandy Melville, which Orner describes as unusually "chaotic". Taylor states that a different
shell corporation owns each of the brand's stores, and the
trademark is owned by a company in
Switzerland, a structure Orner characterizes as "not meant to be traceable". Taylor also says that Marsan himself has virtually no presence on the Internet. == Production ==