The HBO Original documentary BRANDY HELLVILLE & THE CULT OF FAST FASHION, directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Eva Orner and produced by double Emmy®-winning Jonathan Chinn and double Academy Award®-winning Simon Chinn of Lightbox (HBO’s “The Princess” and “Tina”), debuts TUESDAY, APRIL 9 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
Synopsis: In the early Tumblr era of the 2010s, Brandy Melville became the must-have clothing brand for young girls across the world. Through a calculated social media presence and promoting an unattainable aesthetic, fueled by Instagram campaigns featuring its own employees and select “Brandy girls,” Brandy Melville conferred a sense of coolness to the teens who wore the tiny “one size fits most” clothes that quickly exploded and today has nearly 100 stores in over 15 countries and over 80 cities worldwide. However, candid interviews with former employees and fashion insiders, as well as troubling accounts from former executives, reveal a troubling toxic work environment and discriminatory recruiting methods at the company and shed light on the inner workings of a business that flourished by setting impossible beauty standards on social media and in real life for its customers and employees.
Behind the scenes, an environment of alleged discriminatory work practices thrived by preying on the desires of young girls to fit into the Brandy Melville aesthetic. Broadening its focus, the film examines the far-reaching reverberations of mass-produced fast fashion by Brandy Melville and other mainstream fashion brands, as well as the consequences of the collective increase in consumption and production of cheap clothing, traveling to Accra, Ghana, a destination for discarded textiles that end up polluting landfills and waters. From the microcosm of one cult-like brand to the universal detriments of disposable clothing, BRANDY HELLVILLE & THE CULT OF FAST FASHION exposes a wide system of exploitation within the global fashion industry.
Featured Participants: Former Brandy Melville employees and former executives; investigative journalist, Kate Taylor; former Teen Vogue fashion editor, Alyssa Hardy; The Or Foundation’s Liz Ricketts, Sammy Oteng, and Chloe Asaam; CEO of Remake Advocacy Group, Ayesha Barenblat; Matteo Biffoni, mayor of Prato, Italy; CEO of Textile Exchange, Claire Bergkamp; and Manteco s.p.a. executives Matteo Mantellassi, Marco Mantellassi, and Franco Mantellassi.
Credits: HBO Documentary Films presents A Lightbox Production BRANDY HELLVILLE & THE CULT OF FAST FASHION. Directed by Eva Orner; produced by Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Eva Orner; line producer, David Kraemer; edited by Claire Didier; director of photography Nick Higgins; original music by Cornel Wilczek.
