Chinese employees at Brandy Melville share photos from work on Xiaohongshu, a site popular with fashion influencers. Photo courtesy of Qinggeiwotela and Sarah.Yang
Fitting into tiny clothes has become a fashion in itself. Brandy Melville, an Italian fast-fashion brand known for its “one size fits most” philosophy, set off a social media craze globally for creating an exclusive club of slender women who could fit into its extra-small clothes. In China, they’re called “BM girls.”An investigation into Brandy Melville’s North American business by the news outlet Insider this month found a troubling pattern of discrimination against people who were not young, thin, and white. The company did not respond to VICE World News’ requests for comment.“It’s not that they are too small, it’s me being too large.”
Brandy Melville, known for its small-sized clothes, has set off a fashion trend in China. Photo: Viola Zhou
Contestants at the 2018 hit idol survival show Produce 101. Female celebrities in East Asia are expected to look pale and thin. Photo: Chen Zhongqiu/Visual China Group via Getty Images
The 21-year-old is now being treated for depression and eating disorders, but she said it was difficult to stop staring at others’ thinner legs and feeling jealous. “The reality is everyone is losing weight,” she told VICE World News. “The ‘white, young, thin’ ideal has already been written in my bones.”Body-image dissatisfaction has become a common experience for the entire young generation in China, especially women. A 2018 study conducted among primary school students in Guangzhou found that 78 percent of the children aged 8-12 were unhappy with their bodies. Among those with healthy weights, more boys perceived themselves as too thin, whereas more girls perceived themselves as too heavy.According to another survey conducted among female university students in 2016 and 2017, 73 percent of the respondents said they had taken action to lose weight in the past six months. More than half of the underweight respondents wanted to become thinner.“For girls, there is no such thing as too skinny.”
A woman broke down in tears during an anti body-shaming presentation in Shanghai in May. Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images
Zhang Qinwen displays a picture from three years ago when she suffered from eating disorders. Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images