Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion

[DanaK]

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HBO Original Documentary
Debuts April 9 at 9pm ET
Logline: Fashion is identity for teenage girls and one brand, Brandy Melville, has developed a cult-like following despite its controversial "one size fits most" tagline and some unsavory practices. Hiding behind a shiny Instagram façade is a shockingly toxic world, and a broader reflection of the global fast fashion industry. Fast fashion isn't all glitz and glamor - it's an exploitative business that pollutes the planet for the sake of profit.
Credits: Directed by Eva Orner. Produced by Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn and Eva Orner.

 

Edited March 22 by DanaK

[Smokeyblow]

I always figured that applied to the fashion world as a whole anyway.

[DanaK]

Full press release http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2024/03/28/hbo-original-documentary-brandy-hellville-and-the-cult-of-fast-fashion-debuts-april-9-465512/20240328hbo02/

Trailer

 

Edited March 28 by DanaK

[Rlb8031]

I feel like this is a mashup of the LulaRose and Jeffrey Epstein documentaries! Horrid cheap fast fashions sold with a dash of American racism (micro and macro), body dysmorphia and pedophilia/sexual exploitation of young girls. And once again the men that are behind these business models are nameless, faceless and unpunished.

[rlc]

I'll likely watch this, but I do not need watch to know how awful this brand is. I once brought my daughter into one of their shops. At the time she was five feet tall and barely 85 pounds. Everything she tried on was 'one size fits all', and everything was the correct size for her. I was nauseated and angered by how this must make an average sized child feel.

[angelamh66]

I watched this last night. I am old and fat and not on Instagram so I had never heard of this brand. Just wow! Definitely Epstein/Les Wexner vibes here. The damage done to young girls' psyches by this stuff is heartbreaking, but I was more heartbroken by the footage from Ghana with all that clothing just piled up on the beach and floating in the ocean. How can anyone look at that and not want to do something about it?? 

[zenithwit]

This really felt like a Frankenstein documentary to me.  It seemed like they had two separate documentary projects and tried to mash them together.  I think both parts had their merits but they really seemed to be stretching to make a connection. 

Sure, Brandy Melville is contributing to the glut of fast fashion and profiting off of it but there are far bigger players contributing to the swarm of clothing on that beach in Ghana.  By not explicitly calling out these companies, they didn’t really hold any of those companies accountable.   They did mention Zara and Shein but the commentary was kinda surface-level.

For the Brandy Melville-specific parts, it felt like deja vu to me.  There are so many parallels  between Brandy Melville and Abercrombie & Fitch.  Both companies had similar histories with a small brand pivoting to becoming more a stereotypical Americana aesthetic.  Both companies were criticized for predominantly hiring  conventionally attractive white people in their stores,  lack sizing options (though A&F did actually have different sizes) and were run by predatory middle-age men.  Considering A&F is mainly a "millennial" brand, it's interesting how the same trends are being repeated with Gen Z only with the addition of social media.  I think there are some interesting connections that could be explored there.  Millennials did manage to push back on A&F so I think there is some hope for pushing back on the Brandy Melville brand too.  If anyone is interested, there is a documentary on Netflix called "White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch".