Does one size really fit all?
Lululemon
Lululemon Athletica carries specific clothing sizes and has gotten some backlash due to their decisions.
The store stocks women’s sizes 2 through 12, despite the fact that the average dress size for American women is a 14. “It was definitely discriminatory to those who wear larger sizes,” former employee, Elizabeth Licorish, said.
In a July 31, 2013, article by Kim Bhasin on huffingtonpost.com, former employees of the store talked about working at the store and recalled the discriminatory attitude posed toward plus sized shoppers.
Abercrombie & Fitch
“We go after the attractive, all American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong in our clothes and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely,” former Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries, according to an article in The Huffington Post, said.
Abercrombie and Fitch operates their retail store by hiring very attractive and almost unrealistic looking models, with their clothing running thin, small and very tight.
The clothes are designed to target a younger crowd.
Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters has made the news again recently due to a scandal concerning one of the models featured on their website.
According to a Jan. 6 article by Chris Serico on today.com, a British advertising standards group requested that the company remove a photo of an underweight model from their website.
Back in June 2010, the store was scrutinized for selling a shirt with the words “Eat Less” printed on the front, according to “Urban Outfitters ‘Eat Less’ T-Shirt Controversy” from myfoxny.com.
Brandy Melville
A one-size-fits-all clothing store, Brandy Melville is designed for only one body type: thin and petite. By making their tops and dresses one size and their pant sizes only having a range of zero, two and four, the store caters to a very limited pool of buyers.
As a result, Brandy Melville is excluding a large portion of the female population.
The store also advertises their clothing by using unrealistically thin, fair, long haired models, adding to the controversial message they are sending to young girls everywhere.
