Marcel Winatschek

The Right Kind of Thin

I used to stand in the mirror and think, okay, this body is fine, nobody’s actually going to care. Then I found out Brandy Melville cares. A lot.

The brand makes clothes in two sizes: Small and smaller. Their whole business model is exclusion. That’s the product. A Brandy Melville shirt is basically a certificate saying you’re the right kind of thin.

Girls started complaining on Twitter. ’I’m too fat for Brandy Melville, it’s breaking my heart.’ The brand’s response was direct: buy keychains, those fit everyone. No expansion, no plan to change. The exclusion is the entire point.

There’s something almost honest about it, I guess. Most brands pretend they’re for everyone. Brandy Melville is explicit: you either fit or you don’t. That’s the whole thing. You’re not buying a shirt, you’re buying proof that you passed.

I don’t know if it’s cruel exactly. It’s a brand selling clothes to a specific body type—that happens. But Brandy Melville isn’t hiding what they’re doing. They’ve made a choice and they own it. Some people get in, some people don’t. The keychains are for the people who don’t.