When I was in middle school, the era of Tumblr and romanticizing your life was in full swing. Yes, we all needed Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die album on vinyl, we took artsy photos with our Polaroids, and we thought we were so different.
I was also introduced to two brands that would impact our shopping experience for life: Urban Outfitters and Brandy Melville. Urban carried the boho chic, semi-overpriced clothing and vinyl records so you could live the edgy life of your dreams…and Brandy carried “one size fits all” clothes that were super soft and basic.
Quickly, everyone who was anyone was wearing Brandy Melville. We were in a time where everyone thought they were destined to be on the coast of California with their tortured artist boyfriend and a camera. So, obviously, Brandy was the epitome of that dream.
When Brandy Melville partnered with Pacsun, it was over. We all were rushing to the mall to get the next one size fits all garment…but the catch? One size didn’t fit all.
It became a running meme- Brandy Melville stores were geared towards women under a certain weight. And, to make matters worse, the workers were intentionally cliquey and rude when you tried to shop in one of their standalone stores.
For years after Brandy Melville’s prime, girls made social media posts jabbing at the old Brandy workers for their behavior.
And we all moved on. People realized this brand didn’t really care about its customers…so they shopped elsewhere. Until recently.
You know a documentary is good when it gets the internet talking. Because if there’s one thing the public loves, it’s drama and a good sob story. So when we heard about the new HBO documentary, Brandy Hellville: & the Cult of Fast Fashion,everyone thought it was going to cause the evisceration of the brand.
And while the documentary does detail horrifying stories of racism, employee mistreatment, and admission to ripping off designs in the name of fast fashion…it didn’t stop Brandy Melville from resurfacing.
No, it made Brandy Melville more popular than ever.
Because what the documentary did was remind the public how comfortable the Brandy Melville sweat sets are. They remind us of a simpler time, when we were all younger vying over the brand’s clothes.
I’ve watched countless TikToks where girls show their new shopping hauls and mention Brandy. I listen to podcasts where influencers are once-again gushing over their Brandy sets. It’s like suddenly we’re back in 2014 and none of this ever happened.
In fact, Brandy Melville has never experienced a financial crisis because of all the controversy. They’re still a very successful fast fashion brand, and it’s just getting worse.
I can’t even lie to you, I recently purchased a Brandy Melville denim skirt from Pacsun and it barely fits me. Some of the items are so small I can’t even fathom how “one size fits most.”
But what’s equally impressive is the world’s indifference to this. We’ve seen it before: shopping on SheIn for discounted prices despite knowing how unethical the site is, and not to mention other fast fashion stores like Forever 21, H&M, Missguided, Boohoo, and yes, even Zara.
@slutforfits literally the only clothes in my closet are brandy 😅 #brandymelville #outfitinspo #cleangirl ♬ original sound - kasane teto
These days, it's hard not to shop fast fashion- even if you feel bad about it. Soaring prices of clothes, the replicability of the market makes it so easy for every store to recreate the same clothes...even if the quality is a massive difference. And unfortunately, stores with past scandals like Hollister and Lululemon, where issues like size inclusivity and racism have surfaced, have taught us that shoppers don't seem to let controversy affect them.
In 2023, Brandy Melville did around $212 million in sales- a sharp increase from the $169 million they did in 2019.
Not only that, but Brandy Melville's reign of terror is showing no signs of stopping. Instead, social media users recently caught Brandy Melville's attempt at targeting an older group of women: the 25 and up crowd. A new store under the Brandy umbrella has launched called St. George.
@user82634369130322 New Brandy Melville sister store📍St. George at 1511 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica CA 90403 #brandymelville #brandymelvillehaul #brandyoliveoil #santamonica #brandyoutfits #brandymelvilleoutfits #fashion ♬ I Only Have Eyes for You - The Flamingos
At St. George you can get more mature versions of Brandy Melville favorites, home goods, and more. Yes, you can get St. George olive oil (which I'm sure is the best of the best) when purchasing your St. George tank. And, yes, they do at least have sizing up to larges.
And if this is their attempt at saving face in the wake of the documentary, it's hilarious. Genuinely funny. It's what they should've been doing all along...but instead of truly addressing controversy and making change, they've reincarnated.
POPULAR NEWS
Actually, Spotify Does Pay Their Artists
After Universal Music Group, the largest record label in the industry, took all their artists' music off TikTok after failure to reach an agreement on AI usage of their artists and safety...people are now more than ever looking into how artists are treated on platforms where their music is the main focus. For TikTok, it's detrimental- they tried to punish UMG, and now they're paying the price.
At the 2024 Grammy Awards this Sunday, there were tons of controversial moments: should Taylor have brought Lana Del Rey onstage, should this person have won, what was that person wearing? But one of the more subtle digs was taken by host Trevor Noah, who commented on the UMG-TikTok battle by including another well-known streaming platform,
"Shame on you, TikTok, for ripping off artists. How dare you do that? That’s Spotify’s job!”
Without artists and their music, there would be no streaming platform to be had...and Spotify knows that, which is why they've been tracking their royalty payments to the music industry though their Loud & Clear report. The Loud & Clear report comes out every March and shows exactly how Spotify pays it back. According to their site,
"Nearly 70% of that revenue is paid back as royalties to rights holders, who then pay the artists and songwriters, based on the agreed terms."
This means that whatever Spotify is making from these artists and labels, and their music, they're making sure it gets back to them. It should be a mutually beneficial experience: one where both the artist and their representation trust that their work will be valued and protected (and thus, properly compensated), and where the platform also gains traffic from an artist's fans.
Today, Spotify announced that they've paid labels over $9 billion to give us a glimpse of their Loud & Clear report. In an exclusive statement to Popdust, a Spotify spokesperson states,
"Spotify paid record labels and publishers – which represent artists and songwriters – more money than ever in 2023: $9B+. That figure has nearly tripled over the past six years, and represents a big part of the $48B+ Spotify has paid since its founding."