Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion (2024) on Netflix
PG-1320241h 31mDocumentary
Former employees and a journalist describe what they say went on inside Brandy Melville, from body-shaming to racist remarks. Founder Stephan Marsan is central to the allegations.
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- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb6.2/101,220 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Brandy Melville opened its first American store in 2009 near UCLA and became popular among girls and young women, marketing clothing as one-size-fits-most. A journalist's reporting and former employees' accounts say white staff got the public-facing jobs in stores while employees of color worked in the back, that workers had to photograph themselves head to toe when a shift began, and that antisemitic, racist and misogynistic jokes went around a company group chat. Two former associates say an image in that chat showed the founder, Stephan Marsan, dressed as Adolf Hitler. Employees who stayed at the Brandy apartment in SoHo describe men entering unannounced. The brand's clothing is also tied to fast fashion factories in Prato and to near-exact copies of garments employees bought elsewhere.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion (2024)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Eva Orner said it was difficult to find former employees to interview because many feared potential repercussions; Stephan Marsan declined to be interviewed, and the former employees appear only under their first names.
- After Kate Taylor's 2021 Insider article about Brandy Melville's alleged malpractice, the brand issued no apology and faced no financial repercussions, and its market kept growing in China, where a viral "BM challenge" urges girls to lose weight so they can wear a Brandy Melville skirt.
- Brandy Melville has been accused of copying the work of independent clothing designers, and Forever 21 filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the brand in 2016.
