One-size-fits-all fashion retailer Brandy Melville has moved to permanently close all in-store changing rooms across its entire U.S. footprint, according to confirmations from multiple store employees, a decision that has already ignited fierce pushback from the brand’s core customer base of young women.
The Italian-founded brand, which was launched in 1980 and primarily targets teenage consumers, has long been mired in controversy over its narrow sizing model that only caters to smaller body types, with critics arguing it promotes harmful, unrealistic body image standards. Most recently, a 2024 HBO documentary titled *Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion* leveled further damning accusations against the company, claiming it fosters environments that normalize eating disorders and sexualizes its young female staff. Brandy Melville has never issued a public response to either the documentary’s claims or longstanding criticisms of its exclusive sizing strategy.
The BBC reached out to Brandy Melville for official comment on the changing room closure, but the company has not released any formal statement explaining the decision. However, staff at Brandy Melville locations in three major U.S. cities — New York City, Boston and Austin — confirmed to reporters that they received directives this week to shutter the fitting rooms permanently.
Employees at multiple outlets have cited repeated vandalism tied to a viral TikTok trend as the driving force behind the change. Multiple viral videos circulated on the platform earlier this year showed shoppers using chewing gum to wedge changing room curtains open, after widespread complaints that the curtains would not stay fully closed on their own. One Austin-based employee explained that staff have dealt with ongoing issues of gum being caked onto changing room curtains and walls, a messy and time-consuming problem to resolve. One staff member even posted a TikTok of her scraping dried gum off changing room walls during a shift, writing “If you have ever stuck ur gum onto these walls, we have beef.” Another employee shared footage of the fitting room disassembly process at their U.S. location earlier this week.
For the brand’s loyal shoppers, many of whom rely on Brandy Melville for affordable, casual cotton basics, the loss of fitting rooms has only deepened longstanding frustrations with the brand’s sizing model. The news went viral across TikTok and other social platforms, with shoppers expressing anger and confusion over the change. One shopper called the announcement “devastating news” in a social post, while another asked, “How am I supposed to know if it’s cute on me???”
Many shoppers noted that the lack of fitting space is an even bigger problem given the brand’s one-size policy for most styles. “Stuff fits weird sometimes. I would just always try stuff on to see what I wanted, but now I can’t,” one woman explained in a TikTok. Another shopper pointed out the inevitable downstream impact, saying “It’s literally one size per style and you can’t try it on. There’s gonna be like a trillion returns.” The change has left many frequent customers feeling more alienated from the brand than ever before, adding another chapter to the retailer’s decades-long history of dividing public opinion.
