Victoria's Secret plots TV comeback

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https://www.vogue.com/article/victor...back-reactions

BY CHRISTIAN ALLAIRE

March 5, 2023

The annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is coming back. The lingerie brand announced during its 2022 earnings call on Friday that it’s seeking to revamp its Angel-wing–filled production, which was once one of the most anticipated (and watched) in the world. “We’re going to continue to lean into the marketing spend to invest in the business…and also to support the new version of our fashion show, which is to come later this year,” confirmed the brand’s CFO, Timothy Johnson. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, a spokesperson also emphasized that the brand aims to “reinforce our commitment to championing women’s voices and their unique perspectives.”

The event—which once featured top models such as Adriana Lima, Gisele Bündchen, and Heidi Klum—was put on hiatus in November 2019 following VS’s declining sales, poor television ratings, and controversies surrounding the brand. Most notably, it was reported at the time that the company’s then CEO, Les Wexner, had close ties to Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking. In 2020, a New York Times article accused Edward Razek—the former chief marketing officer of L Brands, Victoria’s Secret’s parent company—of creating a “culture of misogyny, bullying, and harassment.”

Around the time of its hiatus, there were also rising questions around whether the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was still relevant or appropriate for the current fashion climate. In 2018, Razek was asked if the show needed an overhaul from its bombshells-only aesthetic and if it would ever consider featuring a more diverse cast, including trans or plus-size models. He famously rejected this idea, telling Vogue Runway’s Nicole Phelps, “I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special. That’s what it is.”

Around the same time, Rihanna’s lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty, proved that it was possible to have a show that was sexy and diverse. From its first catwalk in 2018, Savage X Fenty has cast models of all sizes as well as those who are queer, trans, nonbinary, and drag queens.

Victoria’s Secret aimed to reinvent itself in 2021 too, when it launched its VS Collective campaign featuring plus-size model Paloma Elsesser, LGBTQ+ activist Valentina Sampaio, and US soccer star Megan Rapinoe. The new look and feel of the brand, which shed its signature Angels in favor of products that reflected “what women want,” felt dramatically different and intentional—though perhaps a bit too performative. A Mother’s Day campaign, released shortly after its rebrand, went on to feature a pregnant model in a silky pink robe, a deliberate move to reflect a more inclusive range of body types.

It’s unclear what the new fashion show will entail, but the reactions online to the announcement were mixed. Some were quick to call the brand’s revamp, and its aim to “champion women’s voices,” a direct Savage X Fenty ripple effect. “Ms. Fenty really made them restrategize,” wrote one Twitter user. Others were more cautiously optimistic. “I’ll reserve my outrage until we see if they actually have become inclusive or all this is just merely performative,” wrote another. “Glad it’s coming back,” wrote yet another, “but doubt it will be as glamorous.”

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When it comes to attracting the top audience Victoria's Secret is the one store that has always attracted the audience of young women and teenage girls and when it was first launched in England Victoria's Secret was a store that originally had a proper and ladylike image and would sell items like morning jackets silk nightgowns and Japanese styled kimonos and would play classical music throughout the store to make it seem like you were shopping at a fancy British clothing boutique in London. It wasn't until they debuted the PINK line of juniors clothing aimed at teens that we would start seeing the new image of Victoria's Secret that they still have today. Why I think Victoria's Secret made the decision to return the fashion show to TV is because they are thinking that without the annual tradition of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show the stores would file for bankruptcy and close. Because if you go into Victoria's Secret now you'll see that they now sell sportswear like workout clothing yoga pants and hoodies and the only thing that they focus a lot on is their beauty items like creams fragrances and make-up and they keep launching new fragrances every so often to keep their audiences interested. Like when they debuted the Dream Angels fragrance that made the Angels one of Victoria's Secret's biggest celebrities and commercial stars that fragrance became a best seller and still is a best seller today. When the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show returns I hope it improves because one of the main reasons it no longer aired was they had turned it into a rap artist fashion show and that was different from the original image they used to have. And if you were a new rap artist that show was your big break. But if Victoria's Secret thinks it will bring new customers to their stores this may be a big surprise to them
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