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Fast fashion label Brandy Melville boasts more than three million Instagram followers and a legion of teenage fans who love its Californian aesthetic. But the brand’s ethics have been called into question in recent years, so we’re delving into its practices to ask: Is Brandy Melville sustainable?
This article is based on the Brandy Melville rating published in April 2024 and may not reflect claims the brand has made since then. Our ratings analysts are constantly rerating the thousands of brands you can check on our directory.
Why ‘We Avoid’ Brandy Melville’s questionable ethics and sizing schemes
There’s long been an air of mystery around Brandy Melville—few people know the brand actually originated in Italy in the 1980s, and few know very much about the company’s inner workings or its sustainability practices. In fact, we still can’t fully assess the brand’s practices because it discloses so little, and its score has remained firmly at “We Avoid” in our most recent rating review.
Brandy Melville’s signature look is based on classic California-girl style and 1990s nostalgia, which is allegedly determined by a Malibu-based team of teenage product researchers. The aesthetic drew in thousands of young women in the 2010s as its rise coincided with social media use, and it continues to appeal today. The brand has expanded to China and has been worn by the likes of Kaia Gerber and Kendall Jenner.
But in April 2024 a new documentary, Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion, detailed some of the biggest and most shocking findings about Brandy Melville based on reporting by Business Insider’s Kate Taylor. There were allegations of racism, antisemitism, anti-fast bias, and assault from multiple former employees, and the brand’s most enduring source of controversy—its “one size fits most” sizing scheme—was once again highlighted.
Brandy Melville has frequently come under scrutiny for its restrictive and exclusive sizing—an overwhelmingly “one-size-fits-most” range that is only suited for XS-S young women. After facing backlash, the brand launched an “oversized” range that features mainly baggy sweaters and jackets that continue to be photographed on petite, usually white, teenage girls—which only amplifies the brand’s tone-deaf approach.
After all this, it’s not hard to see why Brandy Melville doesn’t have a good reputation for its sustainability, but how does it fare across our three key pillars: people, the planet, and animals? Read on to find out.
Environmental impact
Brandy Melville does not communicate any information about its environmental policies—even the likes of SHEIN and Primark (both “We Avoid”) have published something about their impact, so Brandy Melville really is an outlier here.
And as a fast fashion brand, Brandy Melville’s practices are inherently damaging and can never be considered sustainable. The brand’s excessive production and frequent drops of poorly made clothes contribute to the problematic take-make-waste business model that sees clothing waste piling up in landfills. There is no evidence the brand is taking any steps to reduce its impact here.
Because of this, Brandy Melville scores “We Avoid” for the planet.
Labour conditions
For people, Brandy Melville receives our lowest score of “We Avoid”.
Past and present employees of Brandy Melville’s retail stores reported to Business Insider that people are routinely fired for changes in their appearance, such as gaining weight or cutting their hair, and that Black people are rarely employed. If they are, they’re “typically relegated to the stockroom or night shifts”.
Brandy Melville’s supply chain is another thing that’s shrouded in mystery, and there is no information about important issues like payment of a living wage or working conditions in its supplier factories. This is really worrying, as there is simply no way to know if garment workers are treated safely and fairly.
Animal welfare
At this point, it’s hardly surprising to see that Brandy Melville doesn’t communicate anything about animal welfare, either. There is no publicly available information, which means the brand has not been assessed for its treatment of animals and receives our lowest score by default.
Overall rating: ‘We Avoid’
Overall, Brandy Melville receives our lowest rating of “We Avoid”.
This brand provides insufficient relevant information about if and how it reduces its impact on people, the planet, and animals. Transparency is vital in fashion because it helps consumers and organisations like Good On You to hold brands accountable for their actions. And considering you’re investing in a brand each time you buy its products, it is your right to know how those items affect the issues you care about.
While sustainable brands with hundreds of products priced under $35 may not be realistic—and nor should it be, considering the true cost of fashion—there are some more responsible businesses making clothes that are more affordable. Read our articles on affordable sustainable brands and ethical ’90s fashion, or check out these options below.
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