A bombshell documentary released on Max has exposed a shocking pattern of behavior displayed by the CEO of the Italian clothing and fashion company Brandy Melville.
Brandy Hellville: The Cult of Fashion released on April 9 and features multiple interviews with former members of staff who have come forward to blow the whistle on the unacceptable actions of Stephan Marsan, the current CEO. The accusations include instances of antisemitism, racism, and sexism.
Who is Stephan Marsan?
Marsan co-founded Brandy Melville alongside his father, Silvio Marsan. The brand arrived in the U.S. in 2009, although it already had 40 stores across Italy by that point. Since then stores have popped up all over the country. As for Marsan, People reports that he spends most of his time traveling between Europe and New York City, where he bought a townhouse for $9.6 million in 2021. However, aside from that, very little is known about the businessman, as he’s adept at remaining out of the spotlight. All eyes are on Marsan now, though, as the recent documentary took a deep dive into how he runs his business and treats his staff.
The Brandy Melville controversy
Speaking with People, Hellville director Eva Orner praised the ex-employees who have come forward with their stories, saying, “I think one of my biggest shoutouts is to the young women who agreed to be in the film and who are leading this charge.” The stories they have to tell are nothing short of shocking. In the documentary, we hear about how only girls who looked a certain way were hired, like those who were skinny and light-skinned. Employees of color were often given tasks in the stockroom or night shifts, and allegedly, when Marsan noticed there were more black employees than usual, he let them go and hired more white women.
Aside from the blatant racism, there was a general creepy attitude towards the women working for Brandy Melville. First of all, they had to send a picture to an executive in order to be hired, but employees were also required to send pictures daily, including pictures of their chest and feet. They were told it was a way of auditioning them for modeling opportunities with the brand; however, if the pictures weren’t good enough, in some cases the employee would be fired. Executives would also take their preferred employees on extravagant trips and there have been allegations of sexual assault as well as upper management encouraging underage drinking and drug use, according to Distractify.
Marsan also had a group chat called “Brandy Melville Gags” in which he would spam antisemitic, homophobic, and racist memes, although at this point that’s not even a surprise. Clearly there are more than a few bad eggs within Brandy Melville who have been abusing their power. We haven’t even gotten into the fatphobia with the controversial “One size fits most” slogan and the clothing that is all small size only. If you want to hear about all of that, definitely give the documentary a watch over on Max.