The Mirror | October 2020 | Van Nuys High School | Los Angeles, California USA

6| OCTOBER 2020 | By ANGELICA VENTURINA
| P E R S P E C T I V E |
theMIRROR
“One size fits none”
Controversy surrounds
retailer Brandy Melville
‘‘
I saw one or
two Asian and
Black models
occasionally
while scrolling
down, but
almost all the
girls are the
same white,
skinny and
small models.”
JENNA DE ROSALES
STUDENT
THE MIRROR STAFF
If you’re a teenager,
you’ve probably heard
the name “Brandy Melville”
at least once.
In Los Angeles, all it takes is a
walk down the street to see one
or two girls wearing the brand.
Founded in Italy in 1970,
Brandy Melville is a clothing
store selling trendy apparel for
young women. With its wide
array of plaid skirts, tiny crop
tops and low-waisted jeans, the
brand gained the attention of
teenage girls after its launch in
the U.S. in 2009. Since then, it’s
become one of the most popular
teenage clothing brands.
However, despite the brand
being so widely enjoyed by
young girls, controversy surrounding
problematic sizing and
lack of diversity implies that the
company caters to a specific
audience of girls — small, skinny
and white.
Brandy Melville sells one-size
clothing, and has been harshly
criticized on the internet for its’
tightly conscribed size range.
Most of their shirts come in small
or extra small. Their pants don’t
have a wider range either, ranging
from as small as a 0 to a 2.
The brand promotes unhealthy
beauty standards
for young girls, according to
15-year-old Gwendolyn Singer.
“They create this expectation,”
Singer said. “If you don’t
fit into one-size-fits-all clothing,
which is not body inclusive and
can only fit people size 00-2,
then you aren’t good enough
and your body isn’t normal. It
creates this idea that if you don’t
fit into their tiny clothes, there’s
something wrong with your
body or you need to change
yourself.”
On average, their clothes have
a 32-inch bust and a 25-inch
waist, which many teen girls do
not have. According to an article
from the website Healthline
Media, written by Kimberly Holland
and medically reviewed by
certified personal trainer Daniel
Bubnis, the average waist size for
a teenage girl in America is 32.6
inches, while the average bust
size is 34 inches.
When the majority of consumers
being targeted cannot
fit into the clothes a company
is marketing, it says a lot about
how poorly size inclusivity is
handled in the fashion industry.
Many brands in the industry,
like Brandy Melville, create a
divide between the people who
can fit their clothes, and the
people who can’t.
While many girls will gladly
line up at the front of Brandy
Melville ready to storm the
store, others would rather
watch from afar, like 15-year-old
Leeza Dangazyan.
“I understand that stores
have the option to market their
products to a specific audience,
but using size instead of style
to do that doesn’t seem healthy
at all, especially because their
specific style is so popular right
now and a lot of people might
be interested in that aesthetic,”
Dangazyan said. “But it’s so hard
to find clothes that fit both that
style and larger sizes. It’s so sad.”
Others argue that Brandy
Melville perpetuates a culture
of negativity and body-shaming
by marketing their clothing
towards only one size.
“Growing up with society telling
us how to look and shaming
us for what size we are has a
negative impact, especially on
our self esteem,” 15-year-old Kyla
Paguio said. “It isn’t any better
that a brand of clothes that
targets teenagers my age makes
me feel bad about not being
able to fit into trendy clothes
or anything from that store for
that matter.”
Brandy Melville’s Instagram
page, which has more than
three million followers lacks
diversity, covered from top to
bottom with pictures of models
who have the same characteristics:
thin, white and tall. With
their lack of diversity and noninclusive
sizing, many marvel at
how they stay in business.
“Most of the models on their
page are white, and it used to
be literally all white models,”
14-year-old Jenna De Rosales
said. “I saw one or two Asian and
Black models occasionally while
scrolling down, but almost all the
girls are the same white, skinny
and small models.”
Girls like 16-year-old Ysabel
Zurita, who don’t match the
brand’s target type, feel left out
and are unlikely to buy anything
from the company until they
become more inclusive.
“The lack of diversity on
their [Instagram] page just ties
in with the whole concept of a
Brandy girl that they’re trying to
advertise: white girl, tall, skinny,”
she said. “I feel really bad for the
girls out there who aren’t getting
the recognition and representation
they deserve.”
SOURCE | BRANDYMELVILLE.COM
ALL WHITE The skinny white girls modeling Brandy Melville fashions on their website.
SHUTTERSTOCK | VLADIMIR GJORGIEU