Fast-fashion company Brandy Melville is taking heat for laying off Allegra Pinkowitz — a teen TikTok star who’s known for drawing groups of young girls to the brand — from its flagship Soho store.
On Thursday, Pinkowitz, a high school senior, posted a TikTok to her 164,000 followers with the caption “just got fired!!” It has since racked up nearly 7 million views.
“This was so unexpected, you guys don’t understand,” Pinkowitz, who worked at the lower Broadway store for two-and-a-half years, said in a follow-up video.
The Brooklyn-based teen said she was about to take a shower when she got a text from a male manager at the store asking her to give 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 users were quick to bash the brand – noting that the Soho store regularly has lines of young women wrapped around the block and that Pinkowitz, in particular, is known for drawing middle- and high-school girls to the store.
In a New York Magazine profile on her last summer, one co-worker estimated that 20 to 30 different groups of tween girls approach Pinkowitz during every weekend shift.
“Not enough money? girl you brought IN the money,” one user wrote.
Another wrote: “boycott brandy after this…allegra RUNSSSS nyc brandy.”
Yet another 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 several storms over the past few years, including backlash over its “one size fits most” clothing – which is designed to fit women sizes extra small, small and medium.
The company has repeatedly been accused of hiring only conventionally attractive, young, blonde workers. Pinkowitz, who is blonde, told New York Mag that she only got a job at Brandy Melville after applying “like 20 times.”
Pinkowitz appeared in a 2024 HBO Max documentary, “Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion,” based on an investigative report from Business Insider. It featured interviews with workers who accused the company of discriminatory hiring and a toxic workplace that promoted body dysmorphia.
In 2025, Brandy Melville’s annual sales hit $283 million – up roughly 15% from the previous year.
Its stores are designed in muted beiges with bleached wood and sell basics, American-flag sweaters and sweatshirts that read “Nantucket.”
Brandy Melville did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
