Victoria’s Secret shows were once among the most watched fashion events. They have been dressing models in underwear since 1995, and four years later they came up with the idea of winged angels. If anything characterized their shows, it was grandeur – the brand spent huge sums not only on the models themselves, but also on the show itself. It used to include live performances (Rihanna sang at the shows, Lady GagaHarry Styles and this year for example Cher) and every year they also presented a unique fantasy bra, i.e. a luxurious bra covered with precious stones, the value of which was calculated at millions of dollars.
Steep fall of the brand
The last show the brand organized was in 2018, and thus the chain of its successful shows was broken. Victoria’s Secret faced a wave of criticism – their former marketing director Edward Razek was accused of creating a misogynistic environment (the whole case here), and the whole situation was not helped by the discussion of their then CEO Les Wexner’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Rihanna showed them how it’s done
In addition, in the same year, Rihanna entered the fashion market with her Savage X Fenty brand, which has a much better sense of what contemporary women want. She showed off her lingerie on models of various builds, something Victoria’s Secret had previously refused to do.
Their marketing director proclaimed that the Victoria’s Secret shows were pure fantasy and saw no reason to change, after all, plummeting sales forced the brand to self-reflect and come up with a new concept that would better suit the times.
Victoria’s Secret claims to be for everyone
And that’s exactly what their show yesterday brought. Although the brand returned its most famous angels Alessandra Ambrosio or Adriana Lima to the catwalk, it did not forget about models with curves either. The most famous plus size model Ashley Graham, as well as Paloma Elsesser or Jill Kortleve, appeared on the catwalk wearing the brand’s underwear for the first time.
Transgender model Alex Consani or Valentina Sampaio, with whom the brand established cooperation years ago, also got wings for the first time, during her show breaks.
Victoria’s Secret invited some of today’s most sought-after models to the catwalk, such as Gigi and Bella Hadid (Gigi opened the whole show), but also the legendary Tyra Banks and Eva Herzigová, who worked for the brand twenty years ago. Supermodel Kate Moss also appeared at the show, wearing pieces from Victoria’s Secret for the very first time. Much like her daughter Lila Moss.
Photo: Masato Onoda/WWD, Gettyimages.com
