Max is the home of a new documentary following the clothing brand Brandy Melville and the consequences of fast fashion. “Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion” exposes the toxic work environment and discriminatory practices behind the scenes of the company and brings up the problem with fast fashion and it’s effects on the environment.
In this film we get interviews from multiple ex-employees as well as women with careers that tie to the fashion industry. Kate Taylor, an investigative journalist for Business Insider, started a deep dive into Brandy Melville. She found that Brandy Melville isn’t a person’s name but rather two fictional characters: Brandy is an American and Melville is an Englishman. The name’s backstory is that these characters met in Italy and fell in love. In her research, Taylor found that you can’t find Brandy Melville’s CEO with just a quick Google search like you can with other companies. Likewise, each Brandy Melville store is owned by a different shell company while the Brandy Melville trademark is owned by a Swiss company. However, this whole web has one man in the middle: Stephan Marsan.
When you talk about Brandy Melville you can’t dismiss its ties to fast fashion. Alyssa Hardy, a former fashion editor at Teen Vogue, says that the company Zara is credited as the starter of the fast fashion model. Brands have continued to speed up production to drop new styles every week. Consumers are constantly buying because they feel like they need to fit in. Throughout all of this, though, there is a mass amount of clothing that is going to waste. Hardy says “Ghana is like a dumping ground for our unwanted fast fashion.” These clothes need a place to go, and unfortunately Ghana has become a country that is forced to deal with our excessive consumption.
Emily, a former employee, recalls the application process requiring applicants to submit a full body image and provide their personal social media handles. A lot of the questions asked in the interview process didn’t have to do with working skill, but what YouTubers girls watched and other unrelated questions. Emily is part Asian, and she commented about how she was always behind the register whereas other girls who were blonde and model-esque got to greet customers and be “the face” of the store. Kali, another former employee, started in the fitting room and then moved to the stockroom. She said that no white people worked in the back. She said the girls knew it was wrong but loved being around other minorities.
Brandy Melville’s clothes are famously branded with girls’ names, the reason being because Marsan or other higher ups would buy clothes that employees were wearing to then copy and sell. So, the Josslyn tee came off Josslyn’s back. “Product research” included copying a piece that an employee with good style had worn in a small amount at one store, and then sending it to mass production if the product was performing well. This landed the company in lawsuits, but that didn’t stop them. They’re also not the only brand who has gotten in trouble for stealing ideas. Unfortunately, when larger brands steal from small businesses it’s harder to get justice because of the size and financial difference between the companies.
they’re not hypocrites because they’re exactly who they say they are, they’re just racist sexist pigs.
Kate Taylor, Business Insider investigative journalist
Clothes from Brandy Melville have tags that say “Made in Italy.” People mistakenly think that this implies good quality, but there are good and bad factories everywhere. Brandy Melville clothing has been known to be made of thin materials and easily rip; those issues are a symptom of fast fashion.
A lot of former employees talked about the sizing of Brandy Melville’s clothing messing with their heads and mental health. Brandy Melville is known for its “one size fits all” system. The employees wanted to be able to fit into the clothes and fit company policy, but that led to eating disorders and the cultivation of an awful body image. Store style photos were taken every day of what employees wore to work and were sent to Marsan. If he didn’t like the photo, he would encourage the manager to fire the employee in question. Looking back, former employees recall it being weird that their employer had numerous photos of them, but they didn’t think much about it. Employees were also encouraged to send photos they took of customers who had “Brandy style,” and if Marsan liked the picture, he would say to offer them a job.
Marsan is also proudly libertarian, so much so he named the Brandy Melville sub-brand after a character in Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” which is sometimes referred to as the “Libertarian’s Bible.” He also used the book as a prop in store locations.
After news came out about Marsan and other higher-ups in the company being antisemitic and misogynistic, a lot of employees quit, and social media trends ruined the company’s reputation. It didn’t last long though; the company continued to go on as it had been after a few weeks. They never issued a public apology and have been able to find girls to work and appear on their Instagram. “They’re not hypocrites because they’re exactly who they say they are, they’re just racist sexist pigs,” Taylor said.
This documentary was very eye-opening and educational. As someone who shopped at Brandy Melville in high school, I had no idea what was happening behind the curtain. I care a lot about fashion, and hearing about how bad fast fashion has become is jarring but also urges me to do better.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
