Perspective of the Exploited: Fast Fashion and Society - Brandy Melville
Companies as large as Brandy Melville has injured the fashion industry with the rise of fast fashion. Within this realm of fashion, teenage girls have been affected by the societal pressures of beauty. In addition, backlash can not financial these corporations due to the constant demand for their products.
The ideal “Brandy girl” has become an expectation for many young girls who love fashion; however, Brandy Melville has curated this standard in order to create a public image. The idealized vision of a white blonde skinny girl has surfaced in Brandy's history of workers. Starting with social media, Brandy has gained teenage girls for the visual appearance of their storefronts. These girls have been strongly influenced to follow certain trends in hope to be noticed by their favorite store. Although the flaws in the system are clear to see, these girls were blinded by the idea of working with Brandy. If these young women started to lose the physical appearance of the “Brandy girl” they are dropped from the company. This lead many girls to compete with one another creating the constant need to fit the standards. It has driven many of the workers into severe eating disorders and an unhealthy lifestyle. Although these girls have faced exploitation through their teenage years, society has not shed light to these problems until now.
The owner of Brandy Mellville, Stephan Marsan, has been known to discriminate against anyone who doesn’t fit his ideal image of a woman. Whether this is for race, style, body type, or so on, he makes his opinions clear through his actions and words. His racist comments and hateful beliefs have been exposed across the internet, catching the attention of millions. One can only wonder, “How is this man continuing to find success?” Unfortunately, many people remain in the dark on this matter or flat out decide to ignore it. The harmful actions of large-scale brands have been normalized to such a point where people will continue to consume just for the point of consumption, barely batting an eye at the reality behind the curtain. The “out of sight, out of mind” mindset allows people like Marsan too much room to hurt others without any consequence. You can promote love and equality as much as you want but it does not matter how much you say you disagree with his beliefs. By supporting a company financially, you are supporting the ideals and the messages they stand for. For Brandy Melville, this message is conformity, exclusion, and racism. Countless people see their support as a small price to pay to follow the newest trends and fit in, but is it truly the best option? There are countless alternatives to supporting such people. For example, one can research to find sustainable and ethical fashion brands, visit thrift stores, or even upcycle their own clothing to create something new and unique. For many, fashion is a large aspect of their identity. Do you really want this part of your identity to be wasted on the hateful words of unethical brands?