Matilda Djerf, the Scandi influencer behind the clothes label Djerf Avenue, has damaged her silence following an explosive investigation right into a poisonous work tradition and accusations of bullying from her workers.
The 27-year-old Swede and her feathery blonde blowout had gone quiet on social media following the controversy, however she’s now resurfaced to situation a public apology of the Notes app carousel selection.
“Over the previous few days, I’ve been quiet on social media. My highest precedence has been to fulfill with the Djerf Avenue crew and communicate to them,” she started. “I’m totally conscious that my phrases right here aren’t a solution or an answer, however for me, it’s vital to jot down this on to you.”
“To anybody who I’ve harm or let down, I wish to begin off by saying I’m genuinely sorry,” she continued, admitting to being woefully unprepared for the speedy development of her firm, which has generated $35 million in income in simply 4 years.
Djerf highlighted steps to deal with the tradition, resembling hiring a extra skilled administration crew, conducting nameless worker surveys, and bringing in an exterior organisational psychologist to evaluate the office.
Absent from the apology was any direct acknowledgment of the fatphobia she is accused of proliferating regardless of advertising and marketing her model as certainly one of self-love and inclusivity.
What’s the Djerf Avenue controversy about?
Rumours of Djerf’s virulent management got here to a head when Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet launched an exposé on the inside workings of Djerf Avenue’s office.
Compiling interviews with eleven workers, the investigation painted a harrowing image of bullying, fatphobia and one weird lavatory rule. Workers described an surroundings the place day by day tears have been commonplace, public scoldings a routine affair, and the place the founder’s alleged fatphobic remarks went blithely unacknowledged. Notably for a corporation whose garments are supplied in sizes XXS to 4XL and marketed with the ethos of physique positivity, these claims have shaken the very basis of Djerf Avenue’s private model.
Among the many most jarring accusations are Djerf’s reported feedback about plus-size fashions. Workers recall her reacting to marketing campaign photos that includes bigger our bodies with disdain.
“We have now to reshoot this as a result of she appears so f***ing fats in these garments. We will’t present that,” she allegedly remarked.
Her disdain wasn’t restricted to fashions, both. Workers report equally disparaging remarks about their our bodies, with one individual recounting being advised their denims didn’t match proper—both too unfastened or too tight, relying on Djerf’s whims.
Then there’s the matter of the workplace rest room. A documentary phase revealed {that a} particular stall, marked with an indication studying “Please don’t use!!” with a coronary heart scribbled beside it, was reserved for Djerf and a choose few. And when you thought that was odd, the state of affairs’s absurdity peaked when an worker, having unknowingly used the stall after the taped-on signal fell off, was allegedly made to wash it clear. In a press release, Djerf Avenue COO Pernilla Bonny defined the association as needed for Djerf’s “well being,” although the logic behind that continues to be unclear.
The backlash from followers was swift. Followers who as soon as idolised Djerf and her model have been left feeling betrayed.
“How are you going to preach inclusivity after which say these items?” one commenter requested on her Instagram put up, whereas others have questioned whether or not the model’s values have been ever greater than a advertising and marketing technique. An influencer virtue-signalling to show a revenue? Surprising stuff.
Many TikTokers have additionally commented on the scandal, pondering what we must always actually anticipate from these social media figures and reminding individuals of the insidious powers of picture curation. Whereas the blogger’s apology tried to negate the controversy, it finally left an excessive amount of unsaid.
Who’s Matilda Djerf?
Matilda Djerf is a 27-year-old content material creator whose fame skyrocketed in the course of the pandemic. Gaining notoriety for her cottagecore-fuelled Instagram feed, she rapidly grew to become a family identify and has acquired over three million followers on Instagram alone. With a buoyant character and even bouncier hair, she impressed legions of followers to copy her model. In 2019, she and her boyfriend, Rasmus Johansson, capitalised on this attraction, launching Djerf Avenue with minimalist fundamentals like outsized shirts and mini skirts modelled after her signature Scandi model.
However as Djerf’s affect expanded, so did the pressures of managing a quickly rising enterprise.
In an earlier interview with Forbes, Djerf mirrored on the challenges of scaling Djerf Avenue, calling it “a studying expertise every single day.” Development and responding to demand, she mentioned, required “adjustments to the organisation,” adjustments that, in hindsight, seem to have come at a big value.
