It’s been a while since we last saw the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. However, on March 4th, the brand’s CFO announced that the show will make its comeback at the end of 2023 after a four-year absence. After this unexpected news it’s quite natural to wonder why the show has been suspended for so many years, given the relevance that it once had. In order to give a proper answer, it’s necessary to chronologically retrace some moments in the lingerie brand’s history.
The company was founded in 1977 by an American businessman named Roy Raymond, who wanted to create a women’s underwear shop that was targeted at men, with the aim of making them feel comfortable while shopping for lingerie. By 1982 the company was making annual sales of more than $4 million but was reportedly close to bankruptcy. That’s when Raymond sold the company to Leslie Wexner, the creator of L Brands (formerly Limited Brands, a group that also included Bath & Body Works and Abercrombie & Fitch). Under Wexner’s leadership, the company began to target women and set the goal of creating a more affordable version of the European high-end brand “La Perla”. His strategy worked out and by the early 1990s Victoria’s Secret became the largest lingerie retailer in the United States, with 350 stores nationwide and sales exceeding $1 billion.
Those years were crucial in consolidating the brand’s sexy and glamourous image. The company was able to encapsulate the pop and fashion culture of the early 2000s, besides setting its own definition for sex, fantasy and femininity. Shopping in VS stores became for some girls almost a rite of passage into womanhood, an experience that made them feel empowered and confident. This strong positioning was possible thanks to the annual fashion show, first held at the Plaza Hotel in New York in 1995. Thanks to the success in the first editions, the show evolved and became a must-see event for fashion enthusiasts, helping to cement Victoria’s Secret as one of the most popular lingerie brands in the world. It featured a lineup of famous models (including Gisele Bündchen, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Adriana Lima) and musicians, who created memorable performances to complement the show’s runway presentations. The show was also known for its over-the-top fantasy aspect with models wearing elaborate costumes and wings. All these aspects contributed to the brand’s popularity and growth by generating buzz and significant coverage in fashion magazines, newspapers and social media.
The company continued to thrive until 2017, year in which the sales began to drop drastically. One factor behind this decline was related to an increased competition, as brands like Aerie, ThirdLove and Savage X Fenty were offering a wider range of sizes and styles that attracted a broader range of customers. Customers began to look for more inclusive and diverse representations of beauty and to desire comfort over sexiness. In campaigns, they wanted to see real women to feel represented – and not the made-up and semi-starved models that graced VS ads. In 2018, the former CMO Ed Razek was asked if he would ever consider in the shows a more diverse cast, with trans or plus size models. He rejected the idea, telling in a Vogue interview: “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.” In addition to criticism for its lack of diversity and inclusivity, the brand has been the subject of revelations about a toxic work environment and sexual harassment allegations. All these issues damaged the brand’s reputation and contributed to declining sales to the point that, in 2019, the show was officially canceled.
For the past few years, the company has been working to address these issues by expanding size ranges and introducing new underwear lines for teens, plus size and pregnant women. The repositioning started to become more evident in 2021 when the VS Collective was launched, featuring plus-size model Paloma Elsesser, LGBTQ+ activist Valentina Sampaio and US soccer star Megan Rapinoe. The goal of the VS Collective was to bring together ambassadors and partners with unique and different backgrounds who would help the brand create revolutionary product collections and inspiring content, in addition to support causes vital to women. According to the brand’s CFO, the brand’s new positioning will be supported by the new fashion show, which is to come later this year. On the same day the news came out, a company’s spokesperson released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter emphasizing that “our new brand projection and mission will continue to be our guiding principle. This will lead us into new spaces like reclaiming one of our best marketing and entertainment properties to date and turning it on its head to reflect who we are today”.
Further details have not been revealed, but the reactions online to the announcement were mixed. Some called the brand’s revamp a way to go after Savage x Fenty, which has included models of all sizes since its first runway show in 2018. Others were more cautiously optimistic, leaving comments like “I’ll reserve my outrage until we see if they actually have become inclusive or all this is just merely performative” or “Glad it’s coming back but doubt it will be as glamorous”. Others, by contrast, were more enthusiastic, saying they are looking forward to the highly anticipated event. Even the singer Lizzo, who has her own brand of shapewear called Yitty, left a comment:
Only in December will we find out whether the show will be a way to support true inclusivity, or whether it will be used as a way to chase trends and boost sales. In the meantime, we just have to wait for more details to be released.
By Corinna Povia
References:
Allaire, Christian. “The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Is Coming Back—The Internet Is Divided.” Vogue, 5 Mar. 2023, https://www.vogue.com/article/victorias-secret-fashion-show-comeback-reactions.
Hanbury, Mary. Cain, Áine. “The rise, fall, and comeback of Victoria’s Secret, America’s biggest lingerie retailer.” Business Insider, 6 Mar. 2023, https://www.businessinsider.com/victorias-secret-rise-and-fall-history-2019-5?r=US&IR=T.
Thomas, Carly. “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Returning After 4-Year Hiatus.” The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Mar. 2023, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/victorias-secret-fashion-show-returning-1235341223/.
