Brandy Melville lays off TikTok star Allegra – Business News
Fast-fashion company Brandy Melville is taking heat for laying off Allegra Pinkowitz — a teen TikTok star who’s recognized for drawing teams of younger women to the model — from its flagship Soho store.
On Thursday, Pinkowitz, a high college senior, posted a TikTok to her 164,000 followers with the caption “just got fired!!” It has since racked up almost 7 million views.
“This was so unexpected, you guys don’t understand,” Pinkowitz, who labored on the decrease Broadway store for two-and-a-half years, stated in a follow-up video.
Allegra Pinkowitz posted a TikTok video asserting she was laid off. tiktok/@allegrasgrwm
The Brooklyn-based teen stated she was about to take a bathe when she obtained a textual content from a male supervisor on the store asking her to present him a call.
“When he calls, he’s basically like, ‘We didn’t make as much money as we were hoping to this summer so we’re laying off a bunch of people,’” Pinkowitz recounted. “He was like, ‘This has nothing to do with your work ethic. It’s just, we need to lay people off.’”
“I guess this just, like, stings more because I’ve always talked really positively about this brand online. This video isn’t to hate on the brand. Sorry, I’m so sad!” Pinkowitz added, bursting into tears. “I expected a little bit more loyalty.”
Social media customers had been fast to bash the model – noting that the Soho store commonly has strains of younger ladies wrapped across the block and that Pinkowitz, particularly, is thought for drawing middle- and high-school women to the store.
In a New York Magazine profile on her final summer time, one co-worker estimated that 20 to 30 totally different teams of tween women strategy Pinkowitz during each weekend shift.
“Not enough money? girl you brought IN the money,” one consumer wrote.
Another wrote: “boycott brandy after this…allegra RUNSSSS nyc brandy.”
Social media customers griped that Brandy Melville’s Soho store usually has a line of women across the block. Tamara Beckwith
Yet one other complained: “i don’t get how SOHO brandy melville isn’t making enough money?? the lines take up the whole corner!!!”
The California-inspired retailer has weathered a number of storms over the previous few years, together with backlash over its “one size fits most” clothes – which is designed to suit ladies sizes additional small, small and medium.
The company has repeatedly been accused of hiring solely conventionally engaging, younger, blonde employees. Pinkowitz, who’s blonde, advised New York Mag that she solely obtained a job at Brandy Melville after making use of “like 20 times.”
Pinkowitz posts clothes hauls and get-ready-with-me videos on her TikTok account. tiktok/@allegrasgrwm
Pinkowitz appeared in a 2024 HBO Max documentary, “Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion,” primarily based on an investigative report from Business Insider. It featured interviews with employees who accused the company of discriminatory hiring and a poisonous office that promoted physique dysmorphia.
In 2025, Brandy Melville’s annual gross sales hit $283 million – up roughly 15% from the earlier yr.
Its shops are designed in muted beiges with bleached wooden and sell fundamentals, American-flag sweaters and sweatshirts that learn “Nantucket.”
Brandy Melville didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s request for remark.
