Brandy Melville.
I know, I know, it’s been discussed before, but not enough from the perspective of its target demographic.Â
A store offering only one size, typically XS-S, continues to thrive. What’s its secret to remaining so popular? As a 22-year-old woman, I’ve fallen for all of the trends, from colorful vans to cheetah print everything. One thing remains constant, however: the cult-like devotion to Brandy Melville. And I’m not exempt from this phenomenon. I’m a part of the Brandy Melville trend myself, having gone on what I like to call a “Brandy crawl” during family vacations. What’s Brandy Melville’s secret? If you’re naive enough to say it’s because they offer the best basics, I’ll agree with you to a certain extent. Stores like Cotton On and Aritzia offer just as good basics so it must be more than that.Â
What’s more difficult to deal with, though, is the notion that this obsession is, in turn, a reflection of something else, something more ingrained, such as an idealization of thinness. It is uncomfortable to think about, but it is evident in ways such as this: I have seen TikTok videos of young women in Brandy store locations with captions such as, “Going somewhere I won’t see my opps.” This is, of course, a notion of exclusivity based on body type, and if this brand’s popularity is in any way a reflection of the notion that “only skinny women are beautiful,” then this is a notion that girls are exposed to far too early and far too often.
Having lived in Boston for the past four years, where there is a Brandy Melville store, and Massachusetts’ only one at that, I have seen firsthand the craze surrounding this brand. On any given weekend, there is a line out the door of this store that looks more like a line to get into an exclusive club in Miami than a line to get into a store to shop. It’s honestly one of the craziest things I have seen in my life, people waiting to go in and shop.
I think one of the reasons for this is that, believe it or not, their website is very hard to use, even in this digital age. I have had a hard time myself, especially trying to send links out for something as simple as a Christmas list. There’s also the fitting room factor. While many brands now offer a seamless return process, Brandy’s process feels rigid and unclear. And when you consider that the brand only offers a one-size option, trying on items in person feels almost necessary, as each piece differs slightly in fit.Â
At the end of the day, the success of the Brandy Melville brand isn’t really about the clothing items themselves; it’s about the experience, the exclusivity, and the identity that comes along with being a consumer of the clothing items. Whether it’s the chaotic website process, the long lines in stores, or the unclear process when it comes to sizing, nothing seems to be keeping the brand’s consumer base at bay. If anything, these factors only serve to make the brand more desirable.
Maybe that’s why the obsession has lasted this long. It’s the intersection of trend culture and social validation and the underlying social standards that never really went away. As much as people may criticize it, they still participate in it too, like me. And that’s the thing: the appeal of the store, even when we acknowledge the problems with it, is still so strong with Brandy Melville that it just goes to show that it’s not just a “basic” store.