Are Brandy Melville and John Galt the Same Brands?

Long before PacSun carried the Brandy Melville collection (in-stores only), there was John Galt, the Brandy Melville style clothing line. A lot of teens were a little befuddled by this because so much of the styles and the marketing looked exactly like Brandy Melville, but it wasn’t. Or, was it? So we couldn’t help but ask: are Brandy Melville and John Galt the same brands?

Brandy Melville and John Galt the Same Brands?

John Galt (which is also carried at Brandy Melville stores) is a subsidy brand owned by Brandy Melville. So the two are basically the same, just different labels. Confusing, I know. Since it’s launch, John Galt has shortened its logo and brand to just read “J. Galt.” Basically, John Galt is to Brandy Melville what Hollister is to Abercrombie & Fitch.

Who Owns Brandy Melville?

Silvio Marsan, the founder of Brandy Melville, started his career 30 years ago when he was producing merchandise for numerous famous Italian brands. His son, Stephan Marsan, opened the first Brandy Melville store 15 years ago. READ: Who is Brandy Melville?

Who is John Galt?

Unlike Brandy Melville, who is a totally made up person, the John Galt name actually has a side story. John Galt is an unidentified character throughout the majority of Ayn Rand’s novel, Atlas Shrugged. Throughout the story, the characters in the book ask themselves, “Who is John Galt?” In the third half of the book, it is revealed who he is (represents).

Is John Galt and Brandy Melville the same?

Yes. they are the same products produced by the same company, with different labels. This is called private labeling. A lot of brands will do this for retailers to gain sales, but they don’t want to water down their own brands’ position. Since Brandy Melville has their own stores, having their brand in other stores seemed counterproductive. So, J. Galt was created for PacSun in order to sell more volume.

Having the Brandy collection now available in PacSun stores, we might see the J. Galt line fall away. I’m not sure how sustainable it is to have two identical lines with different labels.