Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) says it is looking into the claims made about its former CEO.
People have said that Mike Jeffries took advantage of men at the sex events he held around the world.
A BBC investigation found that a mediator was used by an organized network to bring young adult men to events with Mr. Jeffries and his partner, Matthew Smith. Some of these men say they were abused.
When asked for comments, Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Smith did not answer.
A&F, which owns the Hollister brand and runs about 850 stores around the world, told the BBC that it had hired a "outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation" into the claims after hearing about them. It said that the claimed behavior "appalled and disgusted" it.
It has called Mr. Jeffries the company's "modern-day founder" because he turned the brand from a failing heritage outfitter in the 1990s into a teen store with sales of over a billion dollars. According to business filings from the time, he quit in 2014 because sales were going down. When he left, he got a retirement package worth about $25 million (£20.5 million).
A&F said it didn't know about the sexual misconduct claims and that its new leadership had turned the company into "the values-driven organization we are today."
In a two-year investigation that was released on Monday, the BBC found claims that Mr. Jeffries used men for sex at parties he held at his homes in New York and at fancy hotels around the world, such as in London, Paris, Venice, and Marrakesh.
Twelve men said that between 2009 and 2015, they went to or organized parties with sex acts for the fashion mogul, who is 79, and his British partner, Mr. Smith, who is 60.
The eight guys who went to the events said they were brought there by a middleman with a missing nose and a snakeskin patch over it. He is named James Jacobson by the BBC.
Half of the men who talked to the BBC about being recruited said they were first lied to about what was going on or not told that sex was involved. Others said they knew the events would be sexual, but they didn't know what they were supposed to do. Everyone was paid.
Mr. Jacobson denied any wrongdoing and said that the guys went into the events "with their eyes wide open."
This story talks about sexual acts, so be warned.
Men who went to these events and talked to the BBC said that Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Smith would have sex with about four other men or "direct" them to have sex with each other. The men said that after the event, people working there gave them bags with a lot of money in them.
David Bradberry, who was 23 at the time, said that an agent introduced him to Mr. Jacobson in 2010. The agent said that Mr. Jacobson was the gateway to "the owners" of A&F, but there was no talk of sex, Bradberry said. He said that when they met, Mr. Jacobson suggested that Bruce Weber, who was A&F's official photographer at the time, take his picture.
Then, Mr. Bradberry said, "Jim told me that I wouldn't meet with Abercrombie & Fitch or Mike Jeffries unless I let him do oral sex on me." He said that he felt like he was "frozen."
Looking back, he said this should have been "a red flag," but he thought Mr. Jacobson was "just a creepy old guy I wouldn't have to see again."
Later, Mr. Bradberry accepted an offer to a daytime event at Mr. Jeffries' old home in the Hamptons, which was recently sold for $29 million. He said that while he was there, he talked to Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Smith about his hopes of becoming an A&F model. Then, he said, Mr. Jeffries put "poppers" (a drug that can give you a strong head rush and make you feel disoriented) under his nose and then had sex with him.
Barrett Pall, another man, said that he felt like he had to go to an event in the Hamptons in 2011. When he was 22, he said that an older model paid him to be the "replacement" for "some sort of sexual experience" with a couple. He said that he agreed because the older model had helped him financially and he felt he owed him something.
Mr. Pall said that the older model told him, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." It also said, "The further you go, the better," and mentioned job prospects. He said that he felt like he had to "perform" when he got to the event. Mr. Pall said at one point that Mr. Jeffries was behind him and touching him.
"I think this event has broken me," he said. "I think this took away the last bit of innocence I had. It messed with my mind. But now that I can talk about it, I can tell you that I was taken advantage of."
In 2011, dozens of guys were flown to Marrakesh for the largest event, which was held in a private villa at a five-star hotel. The BBC thinks that Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Smith also invited other people. Alex, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, said that he was a failing model back home who was trying to support his family when he was hired as a dancer for the event and thought he would have to strip.
Alex, who was straight and in his 20s at the time, said he auditioned for Mr. Jacobson, who liked his dancing but told him to "finish the job" by giving him oral sex. Alex said, "I had debt, and I wanted to help my family." "I did the job, and I was kind of disgusted by it."
Alex flew to Marrakesh for the event a few weeks later because he thought "the hard part was over." But while he was dancing, Mr. Jeffries tried to kiss him, he said. "I tried to be there without making him mad. "I was in a lot of pain," Alex said.
He finally said that he went to hide in the back room and fell asleep there. Alex said he woke up with a condom in him and was afraid that the champagne he had been given earlier had been tampered with.
"When I put all the pieces together, I think it's very likely that I was drugged and raped. "There's a good chance I'll never know for sure what happened," he said.
After looking at the BBC's proof, a civil lawyer said that US prosecutors should find out if what these "brave men" say could be sex trafficking. Under US law, sex trafficking is when an adult is forced, tricked, or coerced into going to another state or country to have sex for money.
Brad Edwards said, "There may have been signs of coercion for some of the men, while others may not have felt the coercion."
He also said that Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Smith might say that the men were consenting adults and that the fact that some of them had done commercial sex in the past was "a factor." However, he said that past actions were "really irrelevant" when figuring out if a particular act of commercial sex was done because of force, fraud, or blackmail.
"Given the stories of these brave men who have come forward, I think it's very important that federal prosecutors look into this case," Mr. Edwards said, adding that prosecutors had a "very high" burden of proof.
Over the course of several weeks, the BBC tried to get in touch with Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Smith by letter, email, and phone, asking them to reply to a detailed list of allegations to make sure they knew everything that was being said about them. They haven't said anything.
Mr. Jacobson, the middleman who is now 70 years old, said through his lawyer in a statement that he took offense at the idea that he had done anything "coercive, deceptive, or forceful" and that he had "no knowledge of any such behavior by others."
He said he didn't remember making any promises about modeling jobs. "Every time I met someone, it was my choice and I wasn't forced," he said. "Everyone I talked to who went to these things did so with their eyes wide open."