Emily Anderson remembers feelings of shame and self-consciousness in what she refers to as the “universal experience growing up fat or plus size” while trying to shop at size-exclusive clothing stores.
“As a teenager I didn’t feel like I belonged in clothing stores,” said Anderson, a yoga therapist for All Bodies Welcome Yoga in Pittsburgh.
Anderson, now 36, was a teenager in the early 2000s, when brands like Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch helped popularize an ultra-thin beauty ideal.
Two decades later, she says she feels a sense of whiplash as another size-exclusive clothing brand, Brandy Melville, prepares to open in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood.
Known for its “one size fits most” policy and for only stocking sizes XS and S, Brandy Melville’s new storefront was first announced on Shadyside’s chamber of commerce Instagram page in November. Since then, the company has received backlash online for its controversial reputation as an exclusive fast fashion brand with discrimination against race, sex and body size.
“I hadn’t heard of this store before, but it sounds horrible. I don’t usually root for places to close, but I hope this is a short tenure,” said a comment on a Friends from Shadyside Facebook group post about the store.
The first Brandy Melville stores opened in Italy in the 1990s.
The company’s CEO Stephan Marsan then moved the brand to the states in 2009, opening the first U.S. store in Westwood, Calif., near the UCLA campus, according to an article from Business Insider.
The European-based company has stores across 22 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The bulk of its storefronts are in California, which has just under 20 locations, according to the Brandy Melville website.
Brandy Melville’s Shadyside location, located on Walnut Street, will be its first store in Pittsburgh. On its website, Brandy currently lists two stores in Pennsylvania, one in Ardmore and another in Philadelphia. The company could not be reached Wednesday.
Since opening, the company quickly gained popularity among teenage girls and young women. The brand has also gained a controversial reputation.
In 2021, some Brandy Melville employees told Business Insider that CEO Stephan Marsan wants his staffers to be young, thin, pretty and white.
“It’s really interesting when a brand uses exclusivity as a way to belong,” Anderson said.
In April 2024, HBO and British film company Lightbox released a documentary titled “Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion,” in which former employees recounted stories of a toxic work environment with discrimination against race, sex and body size.
“Why are we getting such a horrible store?” wrote one user on Reddit. “Basically the worst of over-priced, unethically produced fast fashion sold in stores that treat their young employees horribly as well.”
Anderson said that while there is no requirement for Shadyside’s chamber of commerce to restrict businesses, leaders should be mindful of the message sent if the neighborhood appears to cater to a particular demographic — whether defined by race, body type or socioeconomic class.
John Henne, president of Shadyside’s chamber of commerce and owner of Henne Jewelers on Walnut Street, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Multiple emails and phone calls to the chamber of commerce on Wednesday were not returned.
Despite some backlash, not all the social media feedback has been negative. The Shadyside chamber of commerce Instagram page “Think Shadyside” was peppered with comments such as “OMG,” “WOO WOO” and “Holy Moly! Well done Shadyside, so happy for you!”
“Personally, as a younger woman, I’m super excited about the Brandy Melville coming!! Whether you like the store or not so many younger women order from there and now we won’t have to get anything shipped. Their clothes are pretty inexpensive and most of their clothing is made from cotton, which is rare nowadays,” one user wrote on Reddit.
The store is expected to open the first half of 2026.
