HBO unveiled the trailer for its new documentary “Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion” on Thursday prior to its April 9 debut.
The preview begins with a short explanation of the Brandy Melville clothing brand describing how it captured the attention of young women through social media and popular culture.
Women featured in the trailer share their experience of first discovering the brand, purchasing clothes, and gaining social status by owning items from the stores that became popular in the 2010s.
“I felt so cool and accepted,” one person remembers after buying a star necklace in seventh grade. “The reason I liked it?” another person says, “because everyone else liked it.”
An expert in the film argues that it felt “authentic” because it was authentic.
“And then, behind the scenes, no one knows that this man with sneakers and sweatpants is running the Instagram account that all these teenage girls admire,” another person reveals. “This place is not like other clothing companies.”
The latter part of the trailer delves into the scandals and controversies beneath the brand’s iconic image, such as the stereotype that they only hired slim white women to model their clothing.
“Then you go into the stockroom and you see all the other people who are working there who are not white,” one woman observes.
Headlines about racism, sexual exploitation, and more are displayed in a montage as senior leadership text messages containing “the most vile, sexual, racist jokes” are described.
The environmental impact of Brandy Melville and fast fashion will also be highlighted. “It’s going to shock you, what you see entering our waters. I need to be worried,” a man says in the clip.
“Fast fashion brands make you buy so much by making you feel like you are not enough,” a voice says, while another concludes the trailer with the words: “Brandy Melville tapped into the worst impulses of being a teenage girl.”
“Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion” premieres April 9 on HBO and Max. Watch the full trailer, below:
