Ringgggg!! My alarm blares in my ear and I jump out of bed in hopes of making it to class on time. I begin peeling through my clothes, trying to find something worth wearing. I move past my bright blue puffer jacket, a pair of pink pinstripe vintage Levi's and my eyes fall on a Brandy Melville t-shirt. Ah! The perfect brand for staples and cute baby tees! But is it really so perfect? The brand I used to be obsessed with in high school is actually quite far from perfect. After watching the “Brandy Hellville” documentary this summer, I learned about just how unethical this brand really is, and I was never able to press pause on the effects it had on me.
The documentary starts out somewhat tame, explaining how Brandy Melville creates a community for girls to join. If you own a piece of clothing from Brandy Melville, you’re in, you’re cool and you’re accepted. The documentary showcases Brandy Melville as an “untouchable” brand, or maybe even cult, depending on how you look at it. As you may have guessed, this “exclusive” culture has some seriously toxic effects. The first is the diet culture that came from Brandy Melville’s infamous “one size fits all” phenomenon, as they took the idea of a “baby tee” quite literally. People began posting videos and diet routines to be able to fit into these very small pieces of clothing that would not fit average teenage girls.
This led to unhealthy eating habits and eating disorders among the workers and customers of Brandy Melville, only adding to the body image issues that are prominent in teenage girls’ lives. The Brandy Melville brand feeds the idea that we are not enough as we are and we must change the way we look to fit the “conventional” standard of pretty in today’s culture.
To this I say, “Unacceptable!” Why should our generation, one that is supposed to be pushing back against these types of criticisms, let big name brands tell us what to do?
Another notable part of this documentary is the unethical side to the Brandy Melville business model. To put it simply, business ethics quite literally do not exist here. In the documentary, secrets are revealed concerning the hiring process in which no actual questions are asked about ability to perform a job in retail, but rather girls are hired based on their hair color, clothing size, and if they “fit the vibe of the store.” Former employees share allegations of sexual assault about CEO Stephan Marsan, snide remarks Marsan makes about the teenage girls he hires and strange requirements he makes for his workers, such as sending in pictures of themselves and their bodies when they clock in for work.
Lastly, but certainly not least, the documentary explains the issue of “fast fashion” and Brandy Melville’s role in encouraging teens to contribute to overconsumption and producing unethically created clothes. Part of the appeal of Brandy Melville is that the clothes sold are usually pretty cheap, and they encourage consumers to not buy just one, but many, many, many pieces.
Brandy Melville clothes carry a “Made in Italy” label. Marsan specifically places Brandy Melville factories in Italy as a creative way to avoid certain taxes and backlash from the public, as he knows their preconceived notions about sweatshops. Italy is a place believed to have some of the highest quality clothes, when actually, many sweatshops operate in Italy where workers endure horrible working conditions, and environmental factors are not taken into consideration. Once again, Brandy Melville’s secrets come to the surface, and we see just how much harm this business creates in today’s society and world.
After watching this film, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had so many opinions about the world of Brandy Melville. Thinking about this documentary from a business-oriented perspective, one could take away just how successful this company really is, despite its obvious issues concerning work environment and business ethics. It is a multimillion dollar company that is growing every year, and thriving beyond belief. Promoting their brand is probably one of the easiest things Marsan has done. He created an Instagram page, an app that teenage girls live on, and posts photos of his workers in Brandy Melville clothing. In every post, he generates millions of likes and increases his multimillion person following. On social media, they grab the attention of their target market with little to no effort.
Additionally, their “one size fits all” clothing works in favor of their business as they are able to buy many different pieces of clothing in bulk since they do not have to get personalized sizes. This creates a very efficient business and removes a lot of obstacles for Marsan. Lastly, even after this documentary, Brandy Melville is generating so much money. “Bad press is still press” applies very well here. Again, although Marsan has created a successful business, he has failed to promote a positive work environment and has added substantially to many of the social issues we grapple with today, in which the bad severely outshines the good.
Regardless, the opinionated side of me thought: “I’m never shopping at Brandy Melville again.” I simply cannot sit back and support a business that exploits my peers in the way this business does. It encourages toxic behavior that urges women to lose weight to fit into their tiny clothes, demeaning women if they don’t look like a Brandy Melville model. You are enough, and you do not need a brand to make you feel differently.
The fashion-loving side of me learned that fast fashion is a pressing issue. A new movement motivated by a “less is more” attitude and concern for environmental impact is that we should aspire to be minimalist in our fashion choices. However, this idea of sustainable fashion, promoted strongly in the film, is unrealistic for teen girls. The market does not exist. No teenage girl wants to spend 150 dollars on one sustainable top when they can spend less than 100 dollars on five tops at Brandy Melville. Instead of telling teenagers to just have a minimalist closet with three shirts and two pairs of pants, we should be encouraging something more attainable – a closet with staple pieces and a few accent pieces. Fashion is an art and should still be a fun way to express ourselves. We don’t want to take that away from people, but we should still be conscientious who we are buying from and the impact that fast fashion can have on the environment.
Brandy Melville is a very complicated brand, as the documentary shows. Interested in Business? Watch it. Interested in fashion? Watch it. Like scandals and drama? Watch it. Take it from someone who has never been passionate about documentaries before. After watching “Brandy Hellville,” you will think twice before stepping into a Brandy Melville store.
I am not saying that you must throw out every Brandy Melville piece you own.Rather, I am encouraging young women to be conscious of which businesses they are supporting and to avoid brands with unethical business practices, even if they promote popular products.
