I’ll be honest: I love scrolling through TikTok for inspiration on where to go for my next spending spree. It doesn’t help when I walk through the halls and see people decked out in fashion brands I’ve seen online; it convinces me to splurge on these companies. However, what’s not talked about enough is the scandals that would get these popular brands “canceled.” Due to the marketing on apps like TikTok, a lot of brands with a corrupt past get to hide behind trends and continue to evade the effects of cancel culture.
Something I’ve noticed throughout my time at SRHS is how Lululemon doesn’t die. There hasn’t been a time when someone in my class isn’t wearing Lululemon. I’ve always thought that Lululemon items symbolized wealth and status because it isn’t cheap. I sometimes find myself having to walk out of the store or close the app because I don’t have 100 dollars to spend on one pair of leggings. With that being said, seeing students walk around school with different Lululemon sets and their 50-dollar keychains around school always meant that they had money (or were extremely spoiled). sowever, I can’t blame them for wanting Lululemon. With the Define Jackets in the shade “Strawberry milkshake,” and the business’s cute shorthand name “Lulu” that the internet gave it, I truly can’t get mad.
That was until a TikTok popped up on my home page referencing controversial ideals the founder of Lululemon had. In Olivia Herert’s piece on The Independent newspaper “From anti-Asian to fatphobic remarks: A history of Lululemon’s public scandals and gaffes,” she reported that: “Long before he left the company, Wilson claimed in 2005 that he chose a brand name that included three L’s specifically because the sound does not exist in Japanese phonetics. He told Canada’s National Post Business Magazine at the time: ‘It’s funny to watch them try and say it.’” Vivienne Reyes, a junior at SRHS and a fan of Lululemon says, “It sucks that they have this background because their quality is good and worth it.”
On top of this, Lululemon “isn’t meant for plus sized people,” according to the ex-CEO. Later in the same article, Hearts reports: “In an interview with Forbes, the 68-year-old former CEO insisted that making Lululemon products more accessible would hurt the brand. He told the outlet: ‘They’re trying to become like the Gap, everything to everybody.’ ‘I think the definition of a brand is that you’re not everything to everybody,’ he continued. ‘You’ve got to be clear that you don’t want certain customers coming in.’” The ex CEO tried to justify being fatphobic and his refusal to make inclusive sizes but, instead of the brand getting hate online, the history gets buried.
Reyes also explained that she’s experienced the cover-up on TikTok stating: “I haven’t seen anything controversial about it [Lululemon] on my feed, it’s only been people promoting [Lululemon].”
Other fashion brands like Brandy Melville (or Hellvile) get exposed and get praised instead of hated on. Known for their everyday clothing and cute designs, Brandy Melville started reaching peoples pages on TikTok around 2021, even though it’s been in business since the 80s. Despite undergoing style changes throughout the 40 years, their sizing stayed the same. In an article by Cady Lang referencing the Brandy Melville documentary on HBO, “How HBO’s Brandy Hellville and The Cult of Fast Fashion Reveals the Dark Side of the Brand,” Lang talks about their “one size fits most” approach, stating: “In the documentary, social media posts show customers lamenting about not fitting into Brandy Melville clothing, as well as plotting how to lose weight in order to fit into the store’s small outfits[and doors]. Former employees who appeared in the documentary said they struggled with eating disorders…Employees were required to send daily full-body pictures of their work outfits to Marsan[CEO], who allegedly fired staffers whose looks he didn’t like.”
Regardless of this information, TikTok still finds a way to idealize the truth. Already, the truth isn’t on the main page, so you have to dig for the information. When I interviewed a student at SRHS who preferred to remain anonymous, they said, “I don’t get any of that [the dark side of Brandy Melville]. I only see people hyping up the clothes on my for you page.” Once you actually find TikTok’s about people talking about their sizing, there are still comments like “They can never make me hate you,” or “I wanna be as unbothered as Brandy Melville,” disregarding the information or even glorifying it.
Even though these brands’ histories get praised, at least people know about them. Brands like Urban Outfitters’ past go unnoticed. Maya Kux, a junior at SRHS, was telling her friends about a new pair of shorts she recently bought from urban. When I told her the background, her face dropped in disbelief. Urban Outfitters has been in trouble multiple times for its choice of clothing they decided to sell. In 2012, the company decided it was a good idea to sell a “vintage” Kent State sweatshirt. The problem with this is that it had red splotches that looked like blood. Given that Kent state is an actual university that had a shooting, things didn’t look good for Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters came out with an apology according to: Urban Outfitters Apologizes for Insensitive Kent State Sweatshirt Sale by ABC news. “The company responded through Twitter, writing this morning, “Urban Outfitters sincerely apologizes for any offense our Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt may have caused. It was never our intention to allude to the tragic events that took place at Kent State in 1970 and we are extremely saddened that this item was perceived as such.”
Urban outfitters may have apologized but the company still didn’t learn their lesson. In 2015, a the CNN newspaper, Melonyce McAfee revealed in “Urban Outfitters product ‘reminiscent’ of Holocaust’” that “the Anti-Defamation League has condemned a product sold in Urban Outfitters stores that it says resembles uniforms prisoners were forced to wear during the Holocaust. The gray and white striped tapestry features pink triangles.
During the Holocaust, gay people were made to wear a pink triangle for identification purposes.
A letter from the ADL to Urban Outfitters President and CEO Richard A. Hayne objected to the “insensitive design and the company’s periodic use of products within the realm of Holocaust imagery.
When doing research on these companies, none of the information I found was from the TikTok “for you page.” Tiktok is one of the biggest platforms that helps keep these brands in business. When people don’t receive downsides to these brands sooner, it’s harder for people to stop buying from them, keeping them in business. Although we can’t “cancel” a company (because they have too much money for it to be effective), consumers should be aware of the dark sides of companies. The fashion brands’ poor choices should be on the “for you page” too.
