Brandy Melville Isn’t Just Racist—It’s Eugenic

Brandy Melville rejects nearly every conventional marketing strategy—no sales, no extended sizing, no inclusivity messaging—yet somehow still generates an average annual revenue of $121.4 million. The brand’s success is surprising, but it's also nothing new, capitalizing on exclusivity and eugenic attitudes. 

On Brandy Melville’s online website, all of the models are white. In an industry where even problematic fast-fashion brands, like SHEIN, implement diversity through model casting or public statements, Brandy Melville does nothing. And they never mention, apologize for, or defend this decision. The brand’s refusal to respond to criticism is a statement in itself, treating whiteness as the default. 

This method is nothing new. It’s the same strategy eugenecists used for decades, which rarely announced “racial superiority” outright but instead normalized it through repetition, framing whiteness as neutral, natural, and self-evident. For example, IQ tests were historically used to prove white superiority because white people often obtained higher scores due to ignored systematic and structural barriers. In the same way, Brandy Melville’s visual world presents whiteness not as an ideology, but as an unquestioned baseline. 

Photo: Brandy Melville

We continue to see this theme throughout Brandy Melville’s branding. The clothes the white models adorn are all itemized by traditionally Western names: “Christy Hoodie,” “Priscilla Pants,” “Zoe Cable Knit Cardigan.” Their “one-size-fits-all” slogan is not just problematic because it promotes eating disorders, but it also implicitly marginalizes Black and Brown bodies, which typically have very different body distributions. 

Brandy Melville’s power lies in its ability to make exclusion feel natural. Like eugenics, its ideology functions best when unspoken. So, let’s talk. 

XOXO, The Fashion Stock Market