Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion chronicles the cases of racism and misogyny in the stores of Brandy Melville through a series of interviews with a cast of fashion experts, former employees, and executives.
The new HBO (and Max) documentary unpacks how the "one size fits all" marketing scheme of Brandy Melville sexualized and assisted in promoting unrealistic beauty standards among teenagers in the United States.
Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion premiered on Max on April 8.
Every Main Cast Member of Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion
Kate Taylor
Kate Taylor is an investigative journalist from Insider who covered the controversies tied to the Brandy Melville brand.
Taylor said in the HBO documentary that the "one size fits all" scheme is not something that should be happening in the world of fashion, noting that other brands offer more inclusivity than Brandy Melville.
She described it as being "explicitly part of the business model."
Kate served as the voice of Brandy Melville's former employees by publishing articles about the truth behind the company.
- X/Twitter: @kate_h_taylor
Alyssa Hardy
Alyssa Hardy is a former fashion news editor of Teen Vogue and the author of Worn Out: How Our Clothes Cover Up Fashion's Sins.
In Brandy Hellville, Hardy talked about how young girls bought into the "Brandy Melville Lifestyle" as well as the history of fast fashion brands.
- Instagram: stopalyssatime
- X/Twitter: @alyssahardy
Willow
As a photographer, Willow took self-portrait photos of herself wearing Brandy Melville clothes, receiving over 100,000 reblogs when she posted them on Tumblr.
After posting photos of her friends that she took wearing the brand, Willow received an email from a certain Jessy Longo, who works for the Brandy Melville clothing line, and she asked her if they could work with her sometime.
While she accepted the offer, Willow described the events that were happening behind the scenes as "complete chaos."
Liz Ricketts
Liz Ricketts is a member of a non-profit organization called The Or Foundation, a group whose mission is to push and identify alternative styles of fashion to highlight ecological prosperity.
In Brandy Helville, Ricketts talked about Ghana and the citizens' use of second clothing otherwise known as "Obruni Wawu" (aka dead white man's clothes).
She also explained how fast fashion impacted the rest of the world.
- Instagram: lraericketts
Sammy Oteng
Sammy Oteng, a member of the Or Foundation, gave an overview of how the Kantamanto Market in Ghana became the largest secondhand economy in the world since it receives over 15 million discarded garments each week from the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
- Instagram: kofibrother
Natasha
As a former employee of Brandy Melville, Natasha admitted that she did not realize until after leaving the company that the brand was part of fast fashion and how it impacted the world and the environment.
Natasha started working at a local Brandy Melville store in Palo Alto at the age of 15.
Melissa
Another former employee who decided to speak up about Brandy Melville is Berlin native Melissa.
She said that she was working for the company during the time of transition when its CEO decided to move its research to the United States, noting that the brand "turned to this California girl look."
Lee
Lee, a former Brandy Melville employee from New York, revealed that they hired her on the spot because of her looks.
Lee also said that working for the brand gives a "mean girl, catty" vibe, noting that they would not (probably) fire their employees even if they were rude.
Cate
As a former Brandy Melville employee from Newport Beach, Cate said that she felt special at first during her early days with the company.
Cate also described the ideal employee of Brandy Melville, with it targeting white blonde girls.
Kali
Kali started working for Brandy Melville when she was 16 years old.
She was initially excited to begin a new chapter as a stock associate for the brand.
She noticed that no white people were working in the stockroom. Instead, all the white girls "had to be in sight" to help customers.
Isabela
Isabela reflected on how Brandy Melville put her in the mindset of hating her body and herself because she felt that she didn't fit the standards of the brand.
She said that a lot of the girls working for Brandy Melville suffered from the standard that the brand is trying to achieve. Isabela also admitted that she's still recovering from it until now.
Marta
Marta shared what it was like working for Brandy Melville, saying that they would ask her to order specific clothes on some website so that they could remake them.
Sheridan
Sheridan, another former employee, shared her take on the quality of clothes that Brandy Melville produced, acknowledging that some of them are super soft and thin and those "wouldn't last long."
She also hated the "one size fits all" marketing ploy since she saw firsthand customers approaching her that they couldn't find clothing of their size.
Emily
Going through the hiring process, Emily admitted that she felt that she was not going to end up with Brandy Melville since she is part-Asian and the other candidates were tall, skinny, blond white girls.
She also revealed a glimpse of the process, such as submitting a full-body photo, her social media handles, and an eventful job interview.
Ayesha Barenblat
Ayesha Barenblat is the CEO of Remake, an advocacy group focused on helping garment workers around the globe.
Barenblat explained how the fashion industry often pushed down on women of color and how employers get away with abusive situations involving them.
- Instagram: remaker02
Chloe Assam
Chloe Assam of the OR Foundation talked about Ghana's head-carrying culture and how it is dangerous and backbreaking for the women in the country, citing the fact that they carry at most 50 pounds of fast fashion clothes on their heads almost every day.
- Wikipedia: Chloe Asaam
- Instagram: chloe_asaam
- X/Twitter: @chloe_asaam
Matteo Biffoni
Matteo Biffoni, the mayor of Prato, Italy, explained why the city is important in the production of clothes, noting that it is the most important textile hub in Europe.
Mayor Biffoni also said that Prato is the biggest in production for the most important fast fashion brands in Europe.
- Wikipedia: Matteo Biffoni
- Instagram: mattbiff
- X/Twitter: @MattBiff
Claire Bergkamp
Claire Bergkamp, the CEO of Textile Exchange, shared the reality of fashion supply chains in the industry and how a company often hires more than one production company to achieve its quota.
- Instagram: claire.bergkamp
- X/Twitter: @clairebergkamp
Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion is now streaming on Max.
Read more about other Max documentaries:
Quiet on Set Episode 5 Release Date, Time & Everything We Know
They Called Him Mostly Harmless Cast: Meet the People In New Max Documentary (Photos)
The Truth About Jim Cast: Meet the Real People In Max Documentary Series (Photos)
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