With its coquettish aesthetics, trendy yet affordable clothes, and attractive storefronts, it’s no surprise that teenage girls flock to Brandy Melville for their fashion needs like moths to a flame.
Yet, scratching beyond the surface of its highly curated aesthetics, the popularity of Brandy Melville becomes harder and harder to justify.
In an era in which brands increasingly focus on inclusivity, and diversity, Brandy Melville stands out with its clothing sizes limited to one size–typically running extra small and small. Its online advertisements and social media posts overwhelmingly feature white and thin models/girls wearing their clothing.
Stephen Marsan, owner and current CEO of the company, recently faced significant backlash due to his virulent misogyny, racism, and anti-semitism unveiled in employee group chats and text messages. HBO’s documentary, Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion further exposed the dark side of the brand, diving deep into its controversies, exploitative practices, and exclusionary tactics.
Despite such controversies, the brand’s popularity has not seemed to dwindle whatsoever, with peak annual sales revenue achieved in 2023. How has Brandy Melville seemingly emerged from criticism relatively unscathed? And how does this brand still have a chokehold on young pre-teen and teenage girls?
The #brandygirl
A large part of the brand’s success comes from its skillful weaponization of feminine ideals and beauty standards in the creation of the #brandygirl.
The “Brandy Girl” is beautiful, all-American, skinny, popular, and effortlessly cool. She likely hails from a “cool” locale like Southern California or New York City and listens to Lana Del Rey in her Airpod Maxes. With her thin, modelesque body type, she can perfectly fit into the small, one-size-fits-some Brandy Melville clothing size.
And unlike fashion models you see in Vogue or social media, becoming a Brandy Girl is semi-attainable. Featured in candid shots on the brand’s social media, she embodies the natural beauty of the girl-next-door. The allure of the #brandy girl stems from her attainability–perhaps, you too, can be a brandy girl.
#brandygirl and Social Media Presence
Part of the success of the #brandygirl image stems from Brandy Melville’s strategic use of social media. The brand’s Instagram posts often seem candid in nature, featuring Brandy employees in candid, action shots—drinking coffee or strolling city streets. Such “candid” photos give the brand’s social media presence an “organic” feel.
Unlike the social media of other clothing brands, such shots seem deliberately uncurated and casual. Their Instagram posts resemble that of a teenage girl’s feed, rather than professional marketing content. The non-celebrities and non-models featured in these shots enhance the semi-attainable nature of the #brandygirl, increasing its attractivity to young girls.
The casual, California-cool vibe of their social media presence is reinforced by the brand’s ownership of a recording studio. The brand often features videos of musicians performing in their studio, sporting exclusively Brandy Melville clothing. This not only further promotes the cool, #brandygirl ideal, but also promotes the brand’s visibility.
Organic Publicity
Beyond their powerful social media presence, the brand has gained significant publicity through organic endorsements by celebrities. Stars such as Lily Rose Depp, Kaia Gerber, Sofia Richie, and Kendall Jenner have all been spotted wearing the brand. Such celebrities give the brand valuable free publicity–a rarity for a relatively affordable fast fashion brand. After all, when do celebrities wear other fast fashion brands like Shein or H&M outside of official brand partnerships?
In addition to the organic publicity by celebrities, the brand has inspired lots of social media content. Numerous “Brandy Hauls” and coquette-style videos featuring Brandy clothing can be found on platforms such as Youtube and TikTok.
Beyond such positive content, numerous memes and TikTok videos have been posted about Brandy’s exclusivity and the perceived “mean girl vibe” of the brand’s storefront employees. TikToks have been made about the apathetic attitudes of store employees, as well as memes about having to be extra skinny to fit into the brand’s storefront doors. Although such videos are more critical in nature, such content gives the brand a significant amount of free PR. This continues to spread the brand name to newer audiences, promoting their clothing.
Exclusivity as Alluring
Unlike other fast fashion brands with inclusive sizing, Brandy Melville is purposefully exclusive–this isn’t a brand that just anyone can shop at. Brandy Melville’s small clothing sizing taps into customer’s desire for exclusivity in a way that few other fast fashion brands do too.
Due to its size barriers, Brandy has the exclusivity of a luxury clothing brand without luxury clothing prices. It then becomes a sort of badge of honor to fit into Brandy Melville clothes, becoming a #brandygirl.
Brandy Melville’s clothing is often limited edition, with finite availability of products. It creates a sense of “buy now or miss it” that further allures customers. Its’ sizing is exclusive, and so is the availability of products.
The brand’s exclusivity is not only denoted within its’ small sizing, but within the physical location of the stores. The brand only has 94 stores worldwide, with competitors such as American Eagle and H&M having over a 1,000 stores each. The storefront locations are often in rich, affluent areas near or in major cities. Customers located outside of such high-income, urban areas are out of luck buying Brandy Melville clothing in their physical storefronts.
Classic, yet Trendy Products
Although Brandy Melville’s marketing tactics, exclusivity, and social media presence have contributed heavily to their success, it is also important to consider the quality of their products.
Brandy Melville’s clothing is created in basic and classic styles–often with plain colors and minimal graphics. The fit and cut of their clothing is often on trend. Yet due to the product’s minimalist nature, the items can be worn over and over again. The neutral coloration of the clothing–whites, grays, navy, the occasional red, and dainty florals–blend seamlessly with a variety of outfits.
The majority of Brandy’s clothing is made from 100% cotton, differing from the typical polyester brands of fast fashion companies. The pricing of such clothing, slightly higher-quality than their competitors, ranges from about $15-$50 dollars. This makes Brandy an affordable, yet higher-grade fast fashion option for customers.
Brandy’s Continued Success
Due to their trendy clothing and alluring exclusivity, it seems that Brandy Melville will encounter continued success in the fast fashion industry. The brand remains highly popular among teenage and pre-teen girls, despite its focus on size exclusivity and promotion of thinness. Perhaps the allure of being a #brandygirl is simply too attractive.
When contacted, representatives from Brandy Melville did not respond to requests for comment.
