Brandy Melville :the “one size fits all ” brand
Brandy Melville is a European clothing and fashion accessories fast fashion brand who markets their products to young women. However, in the background of fashion retailers pursuing more large size options, Brandy Melville insists on its clothing one size fits all policy with the size being a small. The brand has been extremely popular among young girls these years as its Instagram page currently has over 3.3 million followers.
Its brand image and promotion through social media
The very first reason why Brandy Melville is so successful is that it creates an image of skinny, pretty and cool girl that almost every young teenage girls pursue. Brandy Melville only hires skinny and conventionally pretty girls who are white or if they aren't white they have white features. And even more ridiculously, when you are shopping in their stores, if you are skinny and conventionally pretty, you're basically hired on spot. That forms a trend that young girls want to get hired by them on spot and post it on social media with proud.
Brandy’s exclusivity leads to the strong desire of young girls wanting to join their club. Being able to fit into their clothes is rewarding and when you buy their product, you are actually buying the image that pretty, skinny Brandy Melville girl you want to be.
Another reason leads to Brandy Melville’s popularity is its unique way of promotion on social media like Instagram. Instead of using traditional way of photoshoots, Brandy sometimes use iPhones for photos and very minimal edited. This creates a everyday life vibe and is more relatable and appealing to teens. The way that Brandy attracts its customers on Instagram is actually raising their desire to be one of those “BM girls”.
Voices that boycott Brandy Melville’s “one size fits all” policy
The currently popular concept is to embrace different body shapes and no body shame. As shown in the video, the YouTuber claims that she feels humiliated not being able to fit in Brandy Melville’s clothes perfectly and as a result advocates other people avoid Brandy's products and love your body.
It sounds so rational, however, in my opinion, it is just people's different choices. You can't blame on a brand because your own body shape. It is Brandy's strategy to produce only one size and it is your choice not to choose them. Ironically, It's mentioned in the video that the YouTuber herself once felt ecstatic that she could actually fit into Brandy's clothes even though it was not flattering. Nevertheless, I personally fancy this brand because I feel flattered putting on Brandy's cute clothing after losing some weight by eating healthier and looking so good at the same time. Of course it is not that I'm against the concept of “love your body”, it's just that I'm willing to put in effort to be more well-shaped by developing healthy habits and exercise more. And being able to fit into Brandy’s clothing is just a reward not my original intention of doing so.
Honestly speaking, I don't feel it's a wise decision to advocate every body to boycott Brandy Melville. People who are furious about this brand is just that they feel personally humiliated by their body shape as they reluctanly try to fit in the “skinny and pretty” image that the brand creates. I mean, eventually, who doesn't want to be pretty and in good shape?
