Eva Orner on How Brandy Melville and Social Media Fuel 'Toxic' Exploitation of Teen Girls

In the 2010s, it seemed like every teenage girl had a bunch of Brandy Melville tees hanging in her closet. The company, which was founded in the ’80s and opened its first U.S. store in 2009, quickly became a success with young girls and women who ran to buy its “one size fits all” clothing. It only grew more popular as ambassadors — who were typically white, thin, young girls — flooded Tumblr and Instagram with photos of themselves wearing the brand. 

Cheap, trendy, and easy to buy in bulk, it seemed like a teenage girl’s dream come true. But like so many other fast fashion companies, Brandy Melville also has a dark side. 

In 2021, Business Insider published investigative journalist Kate Taylor’s bombshell article titled “Brandy Melville Employees Describe Racism, Hitler Memes, and Sexual Exploitation at the 'Evil' Cult Teen Brand.” The piece features interviews with over 30 current and former employees, who describe “a business largely built on the exploitation of young women and discrimination against anyone who fails to meet [CEO Stephan] Marsan's white, blond, and skinny ideal.” 

The investigation covers allegations of sexual assault, anti-Black racism — a group chat between Brandy Melville executives was filled with Holocaust and Nazi references — among other horrifying claims. Yet, three years later, business is as booming as ever. Brandy Melville never even publicly acknowledged the exposé, and it appears to have had little lasting consequences on the company’s success.

Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion takes a deep dive into the controversial clothing company and the dark side of fast fashion. Directed by Eva Orner (Taxi to the Dark Side), the HBO documentary features interviews with former employees and ambassadors who detail their alleged experiences with racism, body shaming, and exploitation at the hands of the company, along with insights from former franchise owners and executives who worked closely with Marsan. It also unpacks the devastating environmental consequences of the broader fast fashion system, specifically examining how clothing waste impacts Ghana and other countries.

In an interview with Primetimer, director Eva Orner reflects on why Brandy Melville is still thriving as a business, how social media negatively influences young girls and women, and what the average consumer can realistically do to shop more ethically.

Your past work has explored issues like the U.S. government torture practices and how refugees are treated. What made you want to investigate the world of fast fashion? 

I love fashion; I've always loved fashion. About seven, eight years ago, I realized the industry was very problematic. I thought, “Okay, I'm going to change the way that I consume, I'm going to buy sustainable [clothing].” And I started doing that. But I noticed that a lot of the clothing still wasn't good quality. A lot of it was made in countries that didn't seem sustainable to me, [and] when I went online and looked at their website, there was no information. It's really hard to find out what the true provenance of a garment is. 

There is no globally agreed upon definition of what the word “sustainable” means; it basically has no worth and no meaning. So I thought, “Well, if it's been this hard for me to work this out, how is the average consumer going to know how to buy ethically?” And that's where this started. Then I had a meeting with producers Jonathan and Simon Chinn. I said, “I'd love to do something on fast fashion, but I don't have a story.” They pretty quickly came back to me with Brandy Melville, to which I said, “Yeah, I don't know what that is.”

The documentary also mentions brands like Zara and SHEIN. Why explore Brandy Melville specifically? 

I didn’t know what Brandy was, [because] I live in LA, but I’m not a teenager, and I don’t have a teenage daughter. I did a deep dive and saw that there'd been an exposé article by investigative journalist Kate Taylor [who also appears in the documentary] for Business Insider. What was really interesting to me was that it wasn't a company that just did one thing badly. Most companies will say, “We're sorry, we made a mistake.” 

Brandy didn't respond, and it went away really quickly. They did the Trumpian thing of saying nothing, pretending it's not happening. Most companies have an issue where they're busted with a sweatshop or there's been some racism. Brandy has everything: it is sizeist, it is sexist, it is racist, it is antisemitic. It just goes on and on and on and on. 

But I also didn't want [the documentary] to just be a brand exposé, because I felt like that's happened a lot, and doesn't always have the impact you want. I wanted to give context to how we got here [and] what it means, look at the exploitation of workers, and also look at the devastation fashion is causing to the environment. [So] at the end of the film, the audience will be in a position where they can do something that's meaningful. 

Like you said, Brandy Melville has only expanded its brand. The scandal was basically, as one subject put it, a “blip.” But we’re also living in an era where documentaries seem to be really driving conversation on social media and in real life, like ID Discovery’s Quiet on Set. How do you hope the world reacts to Brandy Hellville?

The trailer came out, and within a few days, it had amassed over 2.8 million views on TikTok. For a documentary, it's gobsmacking. The fact that young girls and women are watching the trailer and talking about it on TikTok is amazing, and I hope that translates into watching the film and keeping the conversation going. 

For me personally, I've cut my shopping down between 80 and 90% since I started this film. We don't need the stuff we're being told we need. Every day on my Instagram, there's 50 things that come up that are tailored to my algorithm and my taste, and I used to buy them. I've shut that down; I save money, and I don't need more things. 

I think if you want to buy things, there's this huge economy of secondhand clothing out there, whether you want high-end or Depop. But at the end of the day, there is too much clothing on the planet. We own too many things. The last line of the film is, “We need to buy less.” You don’t have to go cold turkey. But really evaluate before you click and before you buy: “Do I need another T-shirt? Do I need another black top?” If you break that cycle, I think that will have a really big impact. 

One of the interview subjects makes an interesting point that Gen Z doesn’t seem like it would put up with a one-size-fits-all brand. How do you think today’s social media landscape, particularly TikTok, has affected the way young people think about inclusivity and body positivity?

You would think that generation wouldn't buy into this exclusive, small, white, old-fashioned stereotype, right? Somehow it became a thing and I don't know how to explain it. It's pretty shocking. I think the people at Brandy, the customers and the workers, were really young and for a lot of them, it was their first experience loving a brand. It was their first identity, their first job. They didn't know what was normal and what wasn't normal. 

The owners of the company exploit young people because they're easy to exploit. On TikTok, there's this army of young girls who are unpaid ambassadors and advertisers for these multibillion dollar businesses. You know, like really young girls obsessed with their skincare routines. And the owners [of these companies], predominantly white men, are laughing all the way to the bank. It's addictive, because you pay for something and get millions of views, and you feel important. It's really toxic.

Did you have a hard time getting former employees to participate in the documentary or were people pretty willing to share their stories?

It's funny, you know, I've done a lot of war zones studies, and I thought, this will be easy to find people. It was the hardest film [I’ve worked on]. A few months into it, I was like, “We’re not going to be able to make this.” I spoke to hundreds of girls and reached out to hundreds more. 

A lot of them didn't respond. A lot of them responded and shared their incredible stories, but then wouldn't go on camera, which I totally get. They’re young, terrified of retribution from the owners, and also starting their careers and are worried about being whistleblowers and which employers will see them. I totally respect it; I don't overstep boundaries like that. But then there’s this core group of women who are in the film. They said, “I don't care, I'm gonna tell the story. It's important.” 

And I feel like they are the backbone of the story. They are the reason this story exists. They are so brave. They are my personal heroes, and now they're going to encourage others to keep talking. Since the trailer came out, I've been inundated with messages, mostly on Instagram, from other ex-employees of Brandy saying, “Here's my story. Can I be in the film?” Obviously, the film is done, but what they can do instead is talk. Keep the story going. Tell your story publicly. You don't need to be afraid now, because other people have done it. 

CEO Stephan Marsan isn’t in Brandy Hellville, but sources close to him are. As the documentary notes, there’s virtually no information out there about this man. How do you even begin to track someone like this down?

When you really can't find anything about somebody, it's really hard. And I knew going into this, there was nothing. Three photos exist of him online. I think it's always alarm bells when you're looking into a big global company, and there's absolutely nothing. My mind was like, “What are you hiding?” It's a very odd business practice. 

Going into it, I was pretty sure he wouldn't do an interview, which is exactly what happened. Talking to people who can tell stories, people who worked in the stores, particularly in New York and LA where he spent a lot of time, that's where the story data came in. You speak to one person, they say, “You should talk to this person,” and on it goes. 

Also, the two Italian men in the film — we don't show who they are — one was a very high-up [Brandy Melville] employee for a long time and one owned franchises in Canada, and they're now in litigation with Brandy. They were complicit for a long time; they did pretty terrible things. But there was a point when they got out, and then they sued, and they agreed to share their stories. I felt like they painted a pretty good picture of Stephan. And, you know, it's easy to criticize people. But I'm always like, no matter what you've done, if you come out and expose something, there is merit to what you're doing, even if it's just to benefit your court. You don't have to do that. 

What personally shocked you the most during this investigation?

There's a lot that shocked me, [like] the really disgusting text chains. A middle-aged man insisting on full-body, chest, and feet photos of teenage girl employees in the company, and then keeping [the photos]... that's unbelievable. But the thing that I will never be able to forget is standing on the beach in Ghana, and seeing where all of our donated clothes or 80% of our donated clothes end up, what it is doing to that country and to the environment, and the absolute amount of waste. That’s something you cannot unsee, and I think it's really important that those images are in the film.

This interview has been condensed for length and clarity.

Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion premieres at April 9 at 9:00 P.M. ET on HBO and Max. Join the discussion about the documentary in our forums. 

Kelly Martinez is a TV Reporter based in Los Angeles. Her previous work can be found at BuzzFeed and People Magazine, among other outlets. She enjoys reading, spending time with her cat, and explaining the plot of Riverdale to people.