Although the fashion industry is starting to change, there is still a lack of representation amongst colored models in many big brands.
Brandy Melville is a very popular brand that many teenagers like to shop at. However, the brand has faced quite a bit of controversy over the years. First and foremost, Brandy Melville only carries one size fits all clothing. Along with that, all the models are skinny and Brandy Melville does not show the diversity between different body types. The message they are pretty much conveying to teenage girls is that you have to be skinny to be beautiful. This needs to change!
Another key point to highlight is the racism and discriminatory practices that are seen throughout the brand. A former employee, Callie, made a TikTok sharing her experience working there which blew up and received 6.1 million views. In the TikTok, Callie said, " My second week on the job, someone comes in and they’re like ‘Hi I want to work here" She continued, "And I’m like, ‘Oh, ok, like give me your resume and let me show my boss.’ And she gives me her resume and I go in the back and my boss looks at it for like half a second and she had all this amazing stuff on there and she goes, ‘What does she look like?’" Callie also said, "She was like ‘what race is she’ and I (said) ‘Asian’ and she peeked her head up for a second and was like ‘No, tell her we’re not hiring.’"
After looking at the Brandy Melville website, I noticed almost all of the models are skinny and white. On the home page, there are only 6 pictures of a colored girl and the rest of the photos are white models. Even from looking at the brand's Instagram page, the majority of the models on there are white as well. This shows how racism is still a problem in the fashion industry and can bring down many teenagers' self-esteem.
The model Munroe Bergdorf was fired by L'OREAL for making comments about systemic racism on social media has been chosen as the face of a new campaign by a rival beauty brand. Munroe Bergdorf was L'OREAL's first transgender representative, which is a big step in the beauty/fashion industry. Munroe commented on Facebook, "Most of ya’ll don’t even realize or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege, and success as a race is built on the backs, blood, and death of people of color. Your entire existence is drenched in racism.” These comments lead to L'OREAL firing her and Munroe began to receive threats of assault, rape, and death. Bergdorf told The Guardian, "The most ridiculous thing is that you call out racism and they respond with more racism. It just doesn’t make any sense.” She then added, "I don’t regret what I said. I’m an activist. Being an activist means calling people out, not just saying what everyone else is saying and what everyone else wants to think. L’Oreal knew that when they hired me.”
These are just a few examples of racism in the fashion industry. This is a major issue that needs to change!
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