Victoria's Secret has been riddled with glaring issues for years. The long-standing lingerie brand has been publicly scolded for its lack of body inclusivity, for being out of touch with the times and for alleged abusive behavior towards its models.
As the fashion industry grappled with body positivity, transgender rights and the MeToo movement, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was on hiatus for six years. But in recent years, the brand took a step back and seemingly listened to the criticism. Now, Victoria's Secret has had a revamp.
The brand's flashiest night came back swinging Tuesday with a show that streamed on Prime Video, featuring musicians like Thai star Lisa opening the gig, South African pop star Tyla, and the timeless Cher taking the stage. The lingerie brand of times past is fighting to stay current to “reflect who we are today," the company said.
Why is the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show back and what has actually changed? Salon answers all your burning questions about the lingerie brand's controversies:
What are some of the controversies that have plagued the brand before?
Despite the change that is defining the brand now, it has weathered serious controversies within leadership and the culture of the brand, which has seeped into the zeitgeist.
Hulu's documentary, "Victoria's Secret: Angels and Demons," highlighted a series of troubling internal woes which included parent company L Brands' CEO and founder Leslie Wexner's close relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein became Wexner's primary financial adviser. Epstein was even granted Wexner's power of attorney over all his financial and legal matters.
This led to the alleged exploitation of Wexner's properties and wealth so Epstein could abuse young girls. He would pretend to be a Victoria's Secret recruiter to lure young models. Wexner was notified of his behavior and the documentary stated that no action was taken as the abuse continued for years.
Outside of the legal stickiness of the Epstein case, the brand's lack of inclusiveness with transgender and plus-size models was an alarming issue for customers and fashion show viewers. In an interview with Vogue in 2018, former Chief Marketing Officer and architect of the Victoria's Secret Fashion show Ed Razek said, "If you're asking if we've considered putting a transgender model in the show or looked at putting a plus-size model in the show, we have."
He doubled down and said, “It’s like, why doesn’t your show do this? Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy."
Razek later apologized for his statement and resigned the same year. However, the New York Times published an
exposé in 2020 alleging the company's “culture of misogyny.” It also singled out Razek's alleged treatment of the brand's models. The report claimed that models and employees complained of inappropriate conduct, including attempts to kiss models and touching one’s crotch.
Razek said the allegations were “categorically untrue, misconstrued or taken out of context,” and the company said it is “committed to continuous improvement and complete accountability.”
Even the brand's models have pushed back on its toxic marketing and messaging, specifically for its "Perfect Body" campaign. This 2014 campaign featured 10 thin models, several with visible ribs. The words in the advertisement stated, "A Body for Every Body," ABC News reported.
Not long after the highly criticized campaign, one of the brand's high-profile models, Karlie Kloss, left the company because she “didn’t feel it was an image that was truly reflective of who I am and the kind of message I want to send to young women around the world about what it means to be beautiful.”
Another model, Robyn Lawley, also led the charge to boycott the brand altogether, stating that Victoria's Secret tells women “only one kind of body” is beautiful, Forbes reported.
So years later, what's changed with Victoria's Secret?
With dwindling viewership numbers, competing brands like Rihanna's SavageXFenty put inclusivity at the forefront of their brand and pushed Victoria's Secret out of the game.
By sheer cultural force, the brand said it moved "away from telling its customer 'what's sexy and how to look' in favor of supporting consumers 'throughout every phase of their life.'"
Right before Razek's resignation in 2019, the brand hired its first trans model, Valentina Sampaio. Shortly after, it also hired its first plus-size model, Ali Tate Cutler, and then canceled its fashion show. Then in 2021, Wexner officially left L Brands, which ultimately opened the door for more change within the company.
Teen Vogue reported that the company began selling maternity bras for the first time. It also launched a new campaign that included women of all body types from various professions including tennis star Naomi Osaka, Sampaio and plus-size model Paloma Elsesser. The company's stores also began displaying curvy mannequins nationwide.
"It's a change led by an entirely new board of directors that consists of seven people, six of whom are women," writer Marilyn La Jeunesse wrote for Teen Vogue.
Now, for its 2024 fashion show, it still highlighted some of the brand's thinner and most popular supermodels, with Gigi and Bella Hadid opening and closing the show. Even legend Adriana Lima made her return to adorn some angel wings. But they did come through with at least some of their promised changes, celebrating plus-size models Ashley Green and Elsesser.
The show also showcased Tyra Banks, the brand's first-ever contracted and cataloged Black model. Banks' voice opened the show as she boasted, “A brand new Victoria’s Secret fashion show, where women take the reins and the spotlight.”
Other models also celebrated were transgender models Alex Consani, Sampaio and '90s supermodels like Kate Moss and Carla Bruni.
While the brand has made efforts for diversity, inclusion and body positivity, Teen Vogue associate editor Aiyana Ishmael wrote, "It is true that women were center stage in this show, though they always have been. Removing male performers helped alleviate the male gaze, and any event that does result in women feeling good about themselves is largely a net positive. But just because we speak the words doesn’t usher in the action."
Ishmael found that people online begged for a Victoria's Secret Fashion show of times past that included very harmful narratives about women's bodies. She said outside of the few plus models like Green and Elsesser, "the proof is in the pudding, and aside from a few 'plus' models (who, it’s worth noting, mostly fit into straight sizes), the runway was overwhelmingly thin."
