Disclaimer: This text accommodates mentions of sexual abuse and assault. Reader discretion is suggested.
HBO Brandy Hellville and the cult of quick style examine the famend Italian clothes model Brandy Melville. It premieres on the web this Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at 9 pm Jap Time. Will probably be obtainable to stream on Max later. The documentary examines the model's alleged poisonous work tradition and problematic hiring course of. In line with Billboard's press launch, the documentary consists of interviews with former staff, inside sources and specialists.
In line with Occasions Now and The US Solar, Silvio Marsan and his son Stephan Marsan, present CEO, based Brandy Melville within the 1980s.. In line with The New York Put up, they initially launched the model in Italy and prolonged it to the US in 2009. The US Solar said that in 2012, Franco Sorgi, a former retailer proprietor, was behind the opening of the primary retailer Brandy Melville in Canada. Over time, the model expanded in america and Canada. The model has shops in 15 international locations and greater than 80 cities all over the world.
The New York Put up, referring to a Enterprise Insider report, claimed that CEO Stephan Marsan perpetrated problematic conduct. Supposedly, his shops solely employed fairly, skinny, white ladies, whereas he participated extensively within the hiring course of. Lots of the model's former staff and specialists discovered the particularities of this hiring course of problematic. The allegations additionally counsel that the poisonous work setting was fueled by racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, physique shaming and sexual assault.
Brandy Hellville and the cult of quick style: Why is Brandy Melville controversial?
In line with Enterprise Insider India, in line with the 2021 Insider report, Franco Sorgi, a former retailer proprietor, claimed that Stephan Marsan displayed racist conduct. Sorgi, who opened the primary Brandy Melville retailer in Canada in 2012, Marsan opposed hiring black staff. Moreover, the CEO didn’t need black and chubby prospects to tarnish the model's title.
The New York Put up claimed that Brandy Melville launched the “one measurement suits all” technique following Marsan's directions. This occurred after she reportedly ordered the model's shops to maintain solely the three smallest sizes in 2013.
In line with the outlet, Marsan gave particular directions to Luca Rotondo, who was as soon as senior vp of the model, for the hiring course of. Rotondo informed Insider that he “didn't need” black or fats ladies in his shops. This finally resulted in a whole lot of worker terminations primarily based on bodily look or race.
A report from Insider revealed that Stephan Marsan had ladies employed at Brandy Melville shops ship full-body images. Administration allegedly had favoritism amongst feminine staff and known as a few of them “particular snowflakes.” They obtained particular therapy, equivalent to entry to a loft in Soho that was owned by the corporate. The corporate additionally took these staff on journeys to locations like Hawaii and Italy.
Nevertheless, the particular therapy usually resulted in alleged inappropriate conduct and sexual assault. A supervisor, who remained nameless, claimed man who managed a number of Brandy Melville shops sexually assaulted her within the stated Soho loft. The alleged sexual assault sufferer stated, “You’d be doing everybody a favor in the event you shut this enterprise down.”
Moreover, allegations counsel that feminine staff needed to strip fully bare and check out on new garments in entrance of male administration. The interior report additionally talked about problematic textual content messages that Stephan Marsan despatched to a gaggle known as Brandy Melville gags. These messages despatched to stated group, made up of about 30 associates and colleagues of Brandy Melville's CEO, have been allegedly racist, misogynistic and anti-Semitic.
Among the many many racist messages Marsan despatched, one was a photograph from the present Completely satisfied Days with a racist caption. He identified the dearth of black folks on the present, saying, “That's why it was known as 'Completely satisfied Days.'” He additionally allegedly made greater than 20 references to Adolf Hitler, together with a photograph that learn: “Nobel Prize for barbecue.”
An official press launch states that Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Quick Style goals to uncover stated poisonous tradition. The synopsis appears at Brandy Melville's transition right into a worldwide teen model. The model reportedly promotes an “unattainable aesthetic, fueled by Instagram campaigns that includes its personal staff and choose 'Brandy ladies.'”
The HBO documentary consists of interviews with former Brandy Melville staff, executives and style insiders. Moreover, it options Kate Taylor, a well-liked investigative journalist, alongside Alyssa Hardy, former Teen Vogue style editor, amongst a number of others.
The documentary will embrace “disturbing accounts from former executives” that “reveal a poisonous and worrying work setting.” These revelations embrace the model's “discriminatory recruiting strategies on the firm.” The doc additionally reveals the “internal workings of an organization that flourished by setting unattainable magnificence requirements” for each prospects and staff.
Eva Orner runs Brandy Hellville and the Cult of Quick Style. The producers of the documentary are Orner, Jonathan Chinn and Simon Chinn. David Kraemer is the linear producer, Claire Didier is the editor and Nick Higgins is the director of images.
Brandy Melville's documentary will premiere on HBO on April 9, 2024.