If you don’t know Matilda Djerf by name, you might know her by her hair.
Blonde and thick with swoopy bangs, Ms. Djerf’s hair has inspired many TikTok-motivated haircuts in recent years. A Swedish influencer, she began a fashion brand, Djerf Avenue, in 2019 through which she sold glorified basics — think gray trousers and simple button-up shirts — to a growing and devoted fan base seeking to emulate her Scandi-style. The line has since expanded to include home goods and loungewear, with a cosmetics spinoff, Djerf Beauty. (Yes, there are hair products.)
Ms. Djerf — the D in her last name is silent — is 27 and has 4.5 million followers between TikTok and Instagram. In 2023, she was featured on the Forbes “30 Under 30” list.
“We try to be more than a fashion brand,” Ms. Djerf told The New York Times in 2022. “We are just as focused on building a community.”
This week, however, Ms. Djerf posted a lengthy apology on social media after the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet published a report in which 11 anonymous current and former employees said they were mistreated while working for Djerf Avenue. The report accused Ms. Djerf of bullying staff and said she had a special toilet reserved for herself and a small group of employees. When someone outside the group used the private toilet, that person was made to clean it, according to Aftonbladet.
While her brand was built at least partly by promoting inclusivity and a wide size range — “Do I want to be at a catwalk show and see only size 00s walk the runway? Not really,” Ms. Djerf told The Times in 2022 — one person quoted in the Aftonbladet report claimed that Ms. Djerf, using an expletive, referred to a plus-size model as “too fat” while reviewing photos.
Ms. Djerf and Pernilla Bonny, Djerf Avenue’s chief operating officer, both responded publicly to the Aftonbladet report. They did not address specific accusations, but said the company was taking the issue seriously and was “aware of areas where there is room for improvement.” Ms. Djerf apologized, adding that she did not “recognize herself in all the statements.”
When reached for further comment, a representative from Djerf Avenue directed inquiries to the statements Ms. Djerf had posted on social media.
In the days that followed the Aftonbladet report, Ms. Djerf’s social media accounts were flooded with comments from users upset with her reported behavior who urged her to treat her employees with kindness and respect.
On Tuesday, Ms. Djerf posted two videos to her personal Instagram stories and shared a post on her main feed with four slides of a notes-app-style apology.
“I am so genuinely so so sorry to anyone I have let down and to anyone that I have hurt,” she said in one video.
“When I started Djerf Avenue, I never expected that the company would be what it is today, with so many team members and so much responsibility,” she wrote. “I wasn’t ready. I had never led a team prior to this, I had never built a company prior to this, and under a lot of stress, high tempo and naivety I failed to be the leader and colleague I wish to be along the way.”
Ms. Djerf described several changes the company was implementing, including requesting regular feedback and bringing in an “external organizational psychologist” to assess the company.
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