The CEO of teen fashion empire Brandy Melville, Stephan Marsan, demanded full body photos of store staff and fired anyone who didn't match his ideal of blond, skinny and white, according to claims by current and former staff.
'If she was black, if she was fat… he didn't want them in the store,' former senior vice president of Brandy Melville Luca Rotondo told the Business Insider.
Staff claimed Marsan and other top executives had a group chat where they would share racist and sexist memes, including one that featured Hitler, and fostered a toxic work culture that exploited young women and was openly racist and discriminatory.
One former employee even claimed that a store manager sexually assaulted her, Insider reported.
Rotondo told Insider that in his nine years at the company he was instructed by Marsan to fire hundred of staff members, particularly if he felt that a certain store had too many black employees.
Rotondo provided Insider with a grab of a September 2019 text which included a picture of a dark haired manager in Newport Beach and Marsan responded that he was 'only hiring pieces of sh*t,' and that they were 'going to destroy the store,' finally demanding 'kick her out' in his native Italian.
A selfie CEO Stephan Marsan sent to the 'Brandy Melville gags' group chat in which he and other executives would share racist memes
The European clothing and accessory brand was launched in the U.S. in 2009 and was founded in the 1990s by Italian retailer Silvio Marsan
Among the anti-sematic humor shared on the chat was an image of Hitler with the text 'Happy New Year My (N-word)' (right)
The brand is most popular on Instagram, where it has amassed nearly 4 million followers
Rotondo and former Canadian store owners claim in two separate lawsuits that they were fired from their positions for refusing to let got of fat or black employees.
Bastiat USA, the company that operates Brandy Melville locations in the United States, strongly denies the claims.
In his lawsuit, Rotondo says that when he didn't go through with firing the 'piece of sh*t' Newport Beach manager, per his text, his salary was cut by $40,000 to $260,000 before being let go three months later.
The European clothing and accessory brand was launched in the U.S. in 2009 and was founded in the 1990s by Italian retailer Silvio Marsan.
The chat also featured a selfie of top employees doing a Nazi salute, (far right) Marsan himself sent a picture to the chat where he folded a shirt so that the letters features spelled out 'Hitler' (far left) and a poorly edited image of Marsan's head photoshopped onto Hitler's body Sorgi tells Insider Marsan made himself (center)
A grab of a September 2019 text which included a picture of a dark haired manager in Newport Beach to which Marsan responded a manager was 'only hiring pieces of sh*t'
Since making its way to the states, the store became a staple for teens and rivaled established retailers like American Eagle and Urban Outfitters.
The clothing store is probably most famous for it's controversial sizing model known as 'one size fits most' which only goes up to a UK size 6.
The brand is most popular on Instagram, where it has amassed nearly four million followers, and features models known as 'Brandy girls' that fit the stereotypical California girl aesthetic of blonde, thin and white.
The clothing store has nearly 100 store locations worldwide and surpassed an annual global revenue of $250 million as of 2019.
Franco Sorgi told Insider that when he helped Marsan open his first stores in Canada in 2012 the CEO made his racist business stance clear from the start, telling him he did not want black people to wear Brandy Melville because it would damage the brand's image to have black or overweight women wearing his 'nice and delicate' garments but instead the clothing store should appeal to 'good-looking rich little girls.'
This racist mentality applied to employees as well.
Store managers and employees would scout future staff if they fit the Brandy Melville aesthetic, with a a focus on a very specific demographic.
There was no sugar coating it,' a former New York regional manager told Insider. 'It was ''She is skinny, white, blond, and pretty — let's hire her.''
Before a candidate was hired for a retail position multiple executives would be sent photos of the prospective hire and the candidates pay was determined solely by her photo or even a screenshot of her Instagram- the more they fit the Brandy Melville 'look' the higher the pay, eight former employees told Insider.
Former employees at the retailer's New York stores told Insider that black employees would be relegated less desirable post like the stockroom or night shifts and management would hire only hire black employees for 'prime hours' out of desperation due to staff shortages but then fire them as soon as white candidates became available.
The brand features models known as 'Brandy girls' that fit the stereotypical California girl aesthetic of blonde, thin and white
A former regional manager in New York recalled blowing up at Marsan and his right-hand man, Jessy Longo, telling them they couldn't keep firing all the people of color.
'Even if they were the best employees ever, they would only keep the ones that were pretty or mixed' race,' she told Insider.
Stephenie Legros, a former black employee recalled being fired from
