On March 4th, Victoria’s Secret (VS) announced that their famous (read: infamous) fashion show would be staging a comeback at the end of 2023. After a five-year hiatus, the brand hopes to revamp what was once an iconic production. Social media was set aflame, with some saying they were excited about the revival and others looking at it with raised brows. And rightfully so, considering the brands chequered past.
In case you’re unfamiliar, here’s a little background knowledge. First streamed on television in 1999, The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show became the most anticipated fashion show of the twenty-first century. The models, known as Victoria’s Secret’s ‘Angels,’ were seen as the epitome of beauty, becoming the standard for women around the world. As time went on, the show attracted more and more viewers, displaying expensive and unique lingerie pieces showcased by the most glamorous supermodels of the time, like Naomi Campbell, Gisele BÜndchen and Adriana Lima. The shows were opulent, with big budgets funding themed set designs and performances from the biggest names in the music industry.
But in 2019, this all came crashing down -a fall from grace if you will- when the brand cancelled the show. VS had accumulated a lot of controversy over the years leading up to 2018, the year the show received the lowest ratings and subsequent declining sales. Les Wexner, the company’s CEO at the time, was closely associated with the late Jeffery Epstein, who managed his finances before being charged and jailed for sex trafficking. In 2020, the New York Times published an article accusing the former chief marketing officer of L Brands, Edward Razek, of “misogyny, bullying and harassment”. L Brands being the former parent company of Victoria’s Secret (and Abercrombie & Fitch, a whole other can of controversial worms), marked VS with yet more controversy. On top of all this, the brand’s significant lack of diversity, with the Angels being primarily slim, white women, saw Victoria’s Secret bashed for glorifying unrealistic beauty standards.
Now, five years later, Victoria’s Secret is ready to redeem itself. With the launch of its VS Collective campaign in 2021, which featured plus-size model Paloma Elsesser and LGBTQ+ Valentina Sampaio, people are waiting to see whether these changes are meaningful or simply performative. Other familiar names joining forces with the brand are Hailey Bieber and tennis star Naomi Osaka. I think it’s great how social media spreads awareness of social issues and influences how these major corporations operate. It gives us, as a society, a platform to not only inform businesses, like Victoria’s Secret, on what we want to see but also hold them accountable. We still have some time until the end of the year, but, personally, I’m excited to see what the brand has in store for us!