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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Barbara Ellen

Sorry, Victoria’s Secret, your ‘woke’ rebrand failed because it was performative pants

Victoria Secret United States Gisele Bündchen Heidi Klum Naomi Campbell Tyra Banks
Left to right: Karolina Kurkova, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen and Adriana Lima model Victoria’s Secret lingerie in New York City in 2003.
‘Think twice before liberating those angel wings’: Left to right: Karolina Kurková, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen and Adriana Lima model Victoria’s Secret lingerie in New York City in 2003. Photograph: Startraks/REX/Shutterstock

What is the appropriate response when a feminist “woke” rebrand not only fails but (whisper it) deserves to fail?

For those who missed it, in 2018, lingerie company Victoria’s Secret jettisoned its signature uber-sexy catwalk shows with supermodel “Angels” to embrace a new direction more in keeping with the post-#MeToo climate.

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