Hollister

Went to town with a few friends today; got some nice stuff, had a very good time. However, it also gave me something to think about...
I'm sure that most people have heard of Hollister, though if you haven't you can click to the Wiki link. Basically, it's a (very expensive) clothes shop, generally aimed at teens/young adults with a very heavy 'surfer' theme. It's also quite popular among my friends; personally, however, I dislike it.
Why? After all, I have admitted to liking (some of) the clothes, and I love the 'smell' of the shop. It's the less material- excuse the pun!- things I'm against.
Firstly, as I mentioned a few lines up, Hollister is extremely expensive. Want to buy a basic t-shirt? You could be looking at around £20. If not more. At worst case, hoody prices can reach up to £50; jeans go up to £80, and even bras peak at £39, with pants being the cheapest- currently £5 for one pair. To give a comparison, my current 'outfit' (t-shirt, hoody, jeans, underwear) cost about £25 altogether. Theoretically, I saved up to £169 (I say theoretically because in practice there's no way I ever would have bought the Hollister equivalents in the first place).
Think of all the things you could do with £169. That's 16900 penny sweets. There are families who could live on that for roughly 105 days*. That's almost a third of a year.
To make matters worse, more and more people are starting to see that cost as being justifiable. When my friend checked the price of a top today (a nondescript thing that's currently fashionable) she said, '£22- that's pretty reasonable'. Since when did £22 become pretty reasonable for a thin top?! I could find many similar tops much, much cheaper. But stick a bird logo on it, and it's like it's made of gold. When I pointed out that it wasn't 'pretty reasonable', I was told that it's good quality and will last a long time. Try telling that to my £3 tops that have survived years of my clumsiness. That top looked like it could have been carried off by the breeze. Furthermore, this was followed by the assertion that 'the price is good for Hollister'. Apparently, that makes everything alright. Can they not see that they are literally eating out of the company's hand?! I don't care that it's good for Hollister, because Hollister isn't good.
Want to know what makes me angriest about the cost of the clothing? The part that had me visibly shaking and feeling like I was going to be sick?
They use sweatshops. They charge hugely extravagant prices, and they use sweatshops.
I cannot remember the last time I was this angry.
Another grudge I hold against Hollister is their employment procedure. Of course, we all know that in today's developed world, it's considered completely immoral to discriminate in employment, right? Wrong.
The people you see walking around Hollister- the sales assistants- aren't actually employed as such. In fact, their job title is 'model'. Which, technically, means Hollister can employ only the people they consider to be 'model-worthy'. In the past, this has meant that there has been discrimination over race, gender and physical features. This is so so wrong- yet, with the term 'model', they can basically get away with it.
Let's investigate this a little further. I think the least shocking fact I found about this was that males who are prepared to take their tops off are paid more. Firstly, this means that they're being employed based on what their bodies are like. This alone is awful. Secondly, they're being rewarded for adding to over-sexualisation and negative body images. It's sending a message out saying that it's a good thing to take your top off, and attract people in this way. It's wrong.
Furthermore, there have been cases of obvious discrimination in employment, where jobs have mainly gone to Caucasians. I thought we'd got over the idiocy that having a different skin colour or being of a different race makes us completely different. That belief was outdated from the start. Come on, world, we're better than that. Aren't we?
Similarly sickeningly, there have been several reports- and law suits- involving Muslim sales assistants- sorry, models- who, when employed, were told that they could wear their hijabs so long as they wore them in the 'correct' colours. However, in each case, though they followed this, the employees were then informed that they were breaking the 'Look Policy', and had the choice of removing their religious headwear or being fired. What choice is that?! Thankfully, in the cases I read about, the employees managed to sue Hollister.
More on the 'Look Policy': all employees have to wear either Hollister clothing or clothing that could be Hollister. They don't get given any of this, though they get 50% discount on some pieces. They have a strict set of colours they must abide to, and incredibly strict hair/jewellery etc. policies. Hair must be left down and make-up kept natural (small mercy).
Then there's the whole concept of employing people based upon looks anyway. The next time you're near a Hollister shop, go in (with a torch) and look at the 'models'. As far as I can see, none of them come close to being average. They're all incredibly stereotypically 'good-looking'; men with 'fit' bodies and shiny white teeth, women with long hair and stick-thin bodies. There are several huge problems with this.
Firstly, it makes it likely that the employees will feel pressured into retaining the right look to keep their jobs. This could lead to self-esteem issues which could become fairly serious. Whenever I go into Hollister, all I really want to do is hug each and every employee, and tell them that it's okay to be perfect.
Also, sure, the people who work in Hollister are good-looking. But, to me, they're a world away from the people who make up my life. And, I'm afraid, for me, beauty is most definitely in the eye of the beholder: it's the ordinary beautiful people who I would count as being truly beautiful.
Secondly, the majority of people who enter the shop will automatically compare themselves, generally leading to feelings of inadequacies- which, again, can fuel bigger problems.
To be honest, I could go on for a lot longer about Hollister and it's problems. However, I'm just getting more and more worked up, and it's probably time to stop.
I hope you've- I don't know, got something out of this, or realised just what's hidden by something that seems so innocuous.
I wish I could change so many things about Hollister. But, as it's been pointed out to me, there are just too many people who refuse to see the negatives. However, if I've made at least one person change their mind on this, that will be more than enough for me.
What are your opinions? Comment below! :)

*Statistic worked out using poverty facts and a money converter