OPINION | An Ignorant Aesthetic: The Ethical Cost of Brandy Melville

Photo Credit: Cristina Arias

You may have your own personal definition of hell, but let me introduce you to another: Brandy Melville, a clothing brand known for its 2010’s coastal aesthetic, exclusionary one size fits all policy, “iconic” baby tees, questionable hiring practices, and lineups around the block.

Started by Italian father and son Silvio and Stephan Marsan in the 1980s, Brandy Melville opened its first North American franchise in 2009, which prompted a brand shift towards catering to American consumers. 

Since then, the brand’s popularity has grown exponentially, particularly among teenage girls and young women, in part due to the company’s extensive use of social media marketing. According to a semi-annual report that measured sales and consumer demographics from research firm Piper Jaffray, Brandy Melville had the fastest-growing popularity among teenage girls of any major brand. The company made an estimated $212.5 million in sales in 2023, according to Global Data’s Neil Saunders. 

But as Brandy Melville took over the wallets and Pinterest boards of teenage girls, evidence detailing discrimination from the company’s executives were uncovered. Their controversies, and rise to fame, were covered in the 2024 documentary Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion.

The discrimination and exploitation starts at the beginning of the supply chain in Prato, Italy, the country’s garment capital. The city is home to over 5,000 “workshops” which rapidly produce cheap clothing used by fast-fashion companies, at the expense of over 50,000 Chinese foreign workers who live and work in cramped, unsafe conditions, and are not paid living wages. 

All so companies can attach a “made in Italy” label to their clothing — a sign of quality and status — and largely avoid scrutiny over worker’s rights violations. The garments are then shipped to the 97 Brandy Melville stores around the world, where the exploitation continues. 

It was uncovered in the documentary that store employees, as young as 14, have to send full body photos to executives daily. These girls were hired based on their appearances, and ability to fit in the brand’s clothing — and can be fired at any moment, if a change in their appearance is disliked by executives. 

The boundaries of younger female employees are not entirely respected by executives either, as the documentary revealed that a 21-year-old employee was sexually assaulted by an upper-level executive when she was staying at the company-owned apartment in Soho, New York City. 

Once you “drink the kool-aid” and buy an item of clothing from Brandy Melville, you are buying into, and unknowingly projecting, the brand’s message of exclusion and discrimination.

The company is also infamous for its “one size fits all” policy. The majority of items only come in one size, equivalent to a US size small or extra small according to Time Magazine. This is explicitly part of the business model, according to a former executive who was anonymously interviewed in the documentary. 

However, the exclusionary approach extends beyond sizing, and targets any consumer that doesn’t “represent the brand.” 

Former store owner Franco Sorgi told Business Insider that when he opened the first Canadian franchise in 2012, CEO Stephan Marsan “made it clear that he did not want Black people to shop at the brand.” Luca Rotondo, a former senior vice-president, said of Marsan’s hiring practices, “If she was Black, if she was fat… he didn’t want them in the store.” 

Executives of the company also had a group chat titled “Brandy Melville Gags,” where they shared racist, sexist and anti-semetic memes, the majority of which came from Marsan. 

“When I saw [Marsan] wearing a Hitler outfit, I wasn’t surprised,” revealed a former executive when speaking about the group chat. 

From all the discrimination and exploitation perpetuated by this company, you wouldn’t think that Brandy Melville represents the height of status among youth, considering global action to hold powerful individuals and corporations accountable for their actions.

Affectionately referred to by its followers as “Brandy,” the store is beloved and idolized by so many, yet controversies are synonymous with the brand, so how can so many people continue to shop there without batting an eye?

Brandy Melville’s main demographic are teenage girls and young women, who are an impressionable group of consumers due to beauty standards, social pressures, and exploitable insecurities. The company preys on these insecurities and the need for validation, offering exclusivity for devotion, and creating a loyal fanbase who they can continuously profit from.

The brand’s “one sizes fit all” policy increases this exclusivity by privatizing aesthetic outfits and creating a social hierarchy based on appearance and the ability to fit into their clothing. 

While catering to a specific unrepresented market like petite or plus-size is important, the cult-like status of Brandy Melville results in the idealization of the “Brandy Girl” — and by extension — the idealization of that body type. Creating a social incentive to fit into Brandy Melville’s clothing promotes negative body image and eating disorders, by directing social standing to appearance. If Brandy Melville expanded their sizing, it would cost more to produce the garments, but would arguably increase their profits. Instead, the company chooses to keep a close circle of consumers who are bound by the brand’s exclusivity, suggesting that they are aware of the influence they have over teenage girls.

Since its sought-after aesthetic is the peak of social currency, Brandy Melville could be more likened to a religion based on the fervent nature of devotees. What makes Brandy Melville different from other clothing brands with similar consumer demographics is that it has tapped into its consumers’ desire to conform and has socially engineered a brand that pits people against each other in the name of aesthetics.

The fact that Brandy Melville’s annual profits have continued to climb despite these allegations, shows that their fanbase either doesn’t know about their controversies, or doesn’t care. 

Being unaware of these claims is somewhat unlikely due to major media coverage of the company’s practices for over the last decade. Those who are aware of the brand’s harmful policies, but choose to continue shopping at Brandy Melville stores are unable to separate the clothing from the message or, God forbid, stop wearing it.  

By shopping at Brandy Melville, consumers are indirectly condoning and financing a morally reprehensible company, and allowing its executives to continue their sexist, racist, and anti-semetic behavior without consequence. “Brandy” girls have to reconcile the ethical implications of their baby tee, and ask themselves if being “aesthetic” is worth the high moral cost. 

Consumers must abandon the cognitive dissonance between the social currency of Brandy Melville’s clothing and the exclusion the company is funding. Once you become aware of the company’s toxicity, you should be able to stop supporting them. And if not for moral reasons, then at least consider how condoning this company affects your image. Because ignorance just isn’t that aesthetic.