By Alexandra Isham, Alliance Intern from Ohio State University ’25
Whether you’re into major fast fashion brand Brandy Melville’s cute, trendy clothing or not, you should know its darker side as depicted in the fierce, eye-opening HBO documentary, Brandy Hellville. The film exposes their harsh, demeaning beauty standards, unethical business practices and negative environmental impact. This controversial brand is popularly known for its inexpensive, “one size fits all”, minimalistic, West Coast clothing aesthetic, which discriminates against individuals and fuels harmful and unrealistic fashion standards.
Brandy Melville (BM) is the type of clothing brand young girls wear to feel “included.” ln the documentary, one girl stated: “Fashion is identity, especially for teenage girls, this is how you show who you are, who you’re friends with, and I think Brandy Melville encapsulates that.” It’s a disturbing reality that young women are measuring their self-worth based on this brand’s unrealistic body and beauty standards. But the challenge goes much deeper, from the way BM treats its staff and customers to their irresponsible social and environmental business practices.
My Personal Experience at BM
I have felt a cool chill of judgment and discomfort right away when entering a BM store. No one takes the time to greet you at the door as they all seem to have their heads down folding and restocking clothes, almost as if they’ve under constant corporate pressure or even beaten. Sadly, I’ve learned that the employees are constantly reminded that they are easily replaceable, causing them to be constantly walking on eggshells.
The store is filled with a boring, bland color scheme, and all the sales people and shoppers seem to look identical. Everything is the same size, with the clothing seemingly designed for sizes that could fit a toddler, making it the worst shopping experience imaginable.
The Source of BM’s Challenges: Its Owner Stephan Marsan
Brandy Melville is owned by Stephan Marsan, who engages in ruthless enforcement of harmful beauty standards and puts employees through hell and dehumanization daily. This appalling man has faced many disturbing allegations of labor violations and is accused of ignoring workers facing harassment and abuse. He has created a BM work culture built on psychological manipulation, body shaming, fear, intimidation and preying on underage girls.
What’s Wrong with BM’s Fast Fashion Practices
In general, fast fashion is a story of abuse, both of people and planet. But BM takes it to a new level, from its disgusting bigotry, abhorrent HR policies and violation of human rights to its business model and damaging environmental impacts. While the fashion world has moved towards more inclusivity and diversity over the past decade, BM has gone in the opposite direction. Their entire brand is based on the idea of one skinny ideal size, which represents their target demographic. This is unacceptable to me and an increasing number of my Gen Z friends.
As Vanity Fair points out, “One of the most insidious aspect of Marsan’s alleged toxicity lies within “Brandy Melville gags,” a group chat among top senior executives reportedly filled with vile, racist, and sexual jokes, as well as an image of Marsan photoshopped on to Hitler’s body.” Filmmaker Eva Orner said, “I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s disturbing and dangerous and disgusting and juvenile.”
And environmentally, around 60% of their clothing ends up in landfills and oceans, mostly in developing countries, according to retail fashion analyst mcmillandoolittle.com.
Next time you consider shopping at Brandy Melville, think about the company’s ruthless practices and consider supporting local, ethical brands or shopping second-hand.