Brandy Melville：只卖小码的年轻潮牌

"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 2017 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.

走进Brandy Melville零售店，从第一排衣架到第二第三排甚至是第五第六排，所有衣服上的尺码都是S号（小号）。事实上，Brandy Melville的几乎所有衣服都是S号或是均码。

欢迎来到时下美国最受年轻人喜爱和追棒的品牌Brandy Melville零售店。这里的衣服只为一种身材的人设计：瘦人。Brandy Melville坚持均码策略，服装延续异想天开的加州风格。研究公司Piper Jaffray上半年的调查发现，尽管Brandy Melville在美国只有18家门店——多数位于加州和纽约周边，Brandy Melville却一跃成为最受美国年轻女孩欢迎的服装品牌之一。

典型的Brandy Melville的女孩是什么样的呢？从Brandy Melville官网以及图片分享网站 Instagram的账户显示，Brandy Melville的目标用户是：年轻、苗条、腿长的白人女孩。

17岁时尚博客主贾斯汀娜·夏普（Justina Sharp），经营着自己的时尚网站。她表示，“这是件具有优越感的事。恭喜你，你能穿上Brandy Melville的衣服！加入优越俱乐部！因为很多女孩想要穿Brandy Melville的衣服却挤不进去，她们为了能穿上Brandy Melville什么都愿意做。”

Brandy Melville的吊带衫、露脐装、开襟羊毛衫等都深受年轻女孩的青睐，不过也有很多人批评Brandy Melville的均码策略，他们认为这可能增加身材肥胖者的羞愧感。尽管一直以来时尚界都是以瘦为美，一些服装甚至去迎合更苗条的身材，但几乎没有一个品牌像Brandy Melville一样做的如此“苛刻”。瑜伽装品牌露露柠檬（LuLulemon）服装公司承认加大码顾客并不是其目标顾客，不过，露露柠檬还是提供了从0到12的尺寸。即使是被嘲弄为不提供超重儿童服装的阿贝克隆比 & 费奇（abercrombie fitch ）也出售了加大码服饰至14码（注：美国妇女的平均尺寸是14）。

在Brandy Melville零售店里几乎所有的衣服都是S号，只有几件是M号（中码）。腰围在25英寸（约63.5cm,1尺9）的女孩才能穿上Brandy Melville的均码紧身裤，也就是0码或2码，根据品牌的不同。线上出售的大部分短裙，短裤腰围也都是这个尺寸。青少年时尚主力品牌Forever21的同类紧身裤的尺寸在24英寸到30英寸之间。美国疾病预防与控制中心2017年的报告显示，美国年轻女孩身高一般在5英尺3英寸（约1.62米）上下，体重在138磅（约62公斤）左右，腰围在31英寸（2尺4）左右。

女孩领导学院（全国性非盈利组织）创始人之一瑞秋‧西蒙斯（Rachel Simmons）称Brandy Melville使女孩们可以检查自己是不是受欢迎，它重新创造了成为学校里最酷最时尚的人的挑战。