Brandy Melville：只賣小碼的年輕潮牌
"Small," reads the label dangling from the first tank top on the rack at the Brandy Melville store in SoHo. So does the one behind it. And the third, fourth, fifth -- they're all small. In fact, nearly every single piece of clothing in the store is either labeled "small" or "one-size."
Welcome to the hottest teen clothing retailer in the U.S., where the garments are designed for just one body type: thin. Brandy Melville has stormed onto the teen fashion scene with its "one-size-Fits-most" policy and whimsical California vibe. Despite its modest fleet of 18 stores in the U.S., mostly in California and around New York City, it's one of the brands with the fastest-growing popularity among American teen girls, according to a semiannual survey from research firm Piper Jaffray.
Who is the Brandy Melville girl? One look at the brand's website and Instagram account reveals her: young, white, skinny and long-legged.
"It's an exclusivity thing: Congratulations, you fit in the clothes! Join the club," said Justina Sharp, a 17-year-old fashion blogger who runs her style site, A Bent Piece of Wire. "There will always be the girls who will try to squeeze into it. They'll do whatever they can to fit in Brandy Melville."
While teens fawn over the retailer's assortment of crop tops, halters, cardigans and more, critics say Brandy Melville has raised the stakes when it comes to fat-shaming. Though the fashion world has long fetishized skinniness, and some labels cater to even slimmer profiles, few have taken size exclusivity this far. Yoga-wear company Lululemon, which admits plus-size customers aren't part of its strategy, does offer sizes from 0 to 12. Even Abercrombie & Fitch, derided for ignoring overweight kids, sells clothes with extra-large on the labels, up to size 14.
At Brandy Melville, nearly all the clothes are small, though a medium will pop up here and there. To be able to shimmy into Brandy Melville's only size of skinny jeans, a girl would need to have a 25-inch waist -- that's around a size 0 or 2, depending on the brand. Most skirts and shorts on the website are about the same size. Similar skinny jeans at teen fashion powerhouse Forever 21 span sizes from 24 to 30 inches. In the U.S., the average 16-year-old girl is approximately 5 feet 3inches tall, weighs about 138 pounds and has around a 31-inch waist, according to a 2012 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rachel Simmons, co-founder of the Girls Leadership Institute, a national nonprofit group, said Brandy Melville puts teen girls through the "paces of the popularity jungle," recreating the challenge of having to be the best and coolest in school.走進Brandy Melville零售店，從第一排衣架到第二第三排甚至是第五第六排，所有衣服上的尺碼都是S號（小號）。事實上，Brandy Melville的幾乎所有衣服都是S號或是均碼。
歡迎來到時下美國最受年輕人喜愛和追棒的品牌Brandy Melville零售店。這裏的衣服只爲一種身材的人設計：瘦人。Brandy Melville堅持均碼策略，服裝延續異想天開的加州風格。研究公司Piper Jaffray上半年的調查發現，儘管Brandy Melville在美國只有18家門店——多數位於加州和紐約周邊，Brandy Melville卻一躍成爲最受美國年輕女孩歡迎的服裝品牌之一。
典型的Brandy Melville的女孩是什麼樣的呢？從Brandy Melville官網以及圖片分享網站 Instagram的賬戶顯示，Brandy Melville的目標用戶是：年輕、苗條、腿長的白人女孩。
17歲時尚博客主賈斯汀娜·夏普（Justina Sharp），經營着自己的時尚網站。她表示，“這是件具有優越感的事。恭喜你，你能穿上Brandy Melville的衣服！加入優越俱樂部！因爲很多女孩想要穿Brandy Melville的衣服卻擠不進去，她們爲了能穿上Brandy Melville什麼都願意做。”
Brandy Melville的吊帶衫、露臍裝、開襟羊毛衫等都深受年輕女孩的青睞，不過也有很多人批評Brandy Melville的均碼策略，他們認爲這可能增加身材肥胖者的羞愧感。儘管一直以來時尚界都是以瘦爲美，一些服裝甚至去迎合更苗條的身材，但幾乎沒有一個品牌像Brandy Melville一樣做的如此“苛刻”。瑜伽裝品牌露露檸檬（LuLulemon）服裝公司承認加大碼顧客並不是其目標顧客，不過，露露檸檬還是提供了從0到12的尺寸。即使是被嘲弄爲不提供超重兒童服裝的阿貝克隆比 & 費奇（abercrombie fitch ）也出售了加大碼服飾至14碼（注：美國婦女的平均尺寸是14）。
在Brandy Melville零售店裏幾乎所有的衣服都是S號，只有幾件是M號（中碼）。腰圍在25英寸（約63.5cm,1尺9）的女孩才能穿上Brandy Melville的均碼緊身褲，也就是0碼或2碼，根據品牌的不同。線上出售的大部分短裙，短褲腰圍也都是這個尺寸。青少年時尚主力品牌Forever21的同類緊身褲的尺寸在24英寸到30英寸之間。美國疾病預防與控制中心2012年的報告顯示，美國年輕女孩身高一般在5英尺3英寸（約1.62米）上下，體重在138磅（約62公斤）左右，腰圍在31英寸（2尺4）左右。
女孩領導學院（全國性非盈利組織）創始人之一瑞秋‧西蒙斯（Rachel Simmons）稱Brandy Melville使女孩們可以檢查自己是不是受歡迎，它重新創造了成爲學校裏最酷最時尚的人的挑戰。
