Fashion brand Brandy Melville's dark side exposed in chilling new documentary

The film uncovers the brand’s toxic work culture for women as well as its grave environmental impact.

Once a fashion icon for teenage girls, the popular clothing brand, Brandy Melville, is now under intense scrutiny, revealed in filmmaker Eva Orner’s latest documentary.

The film, titled, "Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion," features shocking confessions from women who were previously employed at the stores.

Speaking about the company founder, Stephan Marsan, several women reported that he ran the Instagram page, often asking employees to text photographs of themselves to him during work hours and selecting photos to post himself.

In one instance, reported in Business Insider, an employee revealed that Marsan had collected all her photos in a folder without her consent.

To make matters worse, Marsan would also ask women for “full body,” “chest” and “feet” pictures, refusing to reveal the purpose for these pictures.

Many women reported feeling unsafe during their time at Brandy Melville, with some feeling the need to promptly resign.

In an interview with Teen Vogue, director Eva Orner revealed, “The first thing that was really surprising [about] making the film was getting people to speak up. Everyone was very young when they worked there, and now they're young women embarking on careers or in their twenties. A lot of them were really scared.”

In addition to this, “Brandy Hellville” exposed the clothing brand’s immense environmental violations, with waste from America being rerouted and thrown in Accra, Ghana, where there is no landfill and clothes are either burned or discarded into the ocean.

Courtesy: The Wrap

With clothing waste overflowing in Accra, their citizens now bear the brunt of American waste. Many Ghanaian women are being forced to carry loads of clothes they cannot bear.

“Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion” can be streamed on Max.