The Official Victoria's Secret Thread

[Stromboli1]

VS trying to out woke SI.

[medicenevs]

Dear God, I know we don't speak very often anymore but can Sophia and Monica be next? Thank you.

[ceceshores]

7 minutes ago, medicenevs said:

Dear God, I know we don't speak very often anymore but can Sophia and Monica be next? Thank you.

 

 

 

 

[CandleVixen]

I read the article about Ed and thought it interesting. There were some links in the article, and I followed them. 

 

There was also a mention that Pink is now Pink Sport, so I would guess that it means that the V Sport is out. I thought that they messed up when they changed from VSX to just make it Victoria Sport.

 

One I found most interesting was from March. 

 

 

There is a lot of business speak though I think I read it right, that L Brands was told to get their shit together, bring in younger tenured people and try to recover the good faith of their customers. 

 

I’m paraphrasing here.

The letter mentions the tenure length of the top executives has been over 20 years, bring in fresh faces and and catch up with the times. 

 

 

[CandleVixen]

Why do they insist saying that Barbara is plus sized? 

 

Or any of their other hires who are not following the #bodybyiza law of the less body fat the better, being plus size? 

 

What is the industry standard size size to be a plus? 

[Prettyphile]

1 hour ago, CandleVixen said:

Why do they insist saying that Barbara is plus sized?

Because she's a size 8, and in the modeling world (not the woke modeling world where everyone needs to be seen/heard and you are a bad person if you don't like it), that is plus sized.  I said months ago that Barbara was hired for that roll, just as Leomie was hired for a reason.  VS has also been looking at another darker skinned model who's considered a tad "thiccer" as well... because EVERYONE needs to be seen and heard.

 

VS wants ALL THE THINGS, and it's coming across as gimmicky at this point. A sure sign of desperation to retain customers and appeal to a newer woke generation who want ALL the things to matter.

[CandleVixen]

1 hour ago, Prettyphile said:

Because she's a size 8, and in the modeling world 

 

Thanks Pretty. Last I was aware of what the size threshold was, they started at 10. 

[Prettyphile]

5 hours ago, CandleVixen said:

 

Thanks Pretty. Last I was aware of what the size threshold was, they started at 10. 

From Cosmopolitan —

In the fashion industry, "plus size" is a term for models who are size 8 and up. But in the real world, most people would never think of a size 8 as plus size — most plus-size clothing doesn't even start until a size 16.

Alex LaRosa, a self-proclaimed "plus-size model who's visibly plus-size," was on HuffPost Live to talk about some of her issues with these discrepancies:

"In a world where you're telling women that plus-size is sizes 4 and up, you're causing body image issues. You're causing unrealistic expectations that every one -- every woman -- should be a size 4. To bring that into the plus-size community, where you're using sizes 8, 10 and 12, when sometimes the stores don't even start carrying the clothes until size 14, you're telling women, 'You want to look like these models. This is what you should look like, but it's never going to happen.'

In fact, not so long ago plus-size models were around size 10-12, but that number has recently shrunk to an 8. According to Anthony Higgins, the director at MSA Models, "[catalogs] will use a size 8 because they think size 14 and 16 will relate to that person and size 4 and size 6 will relate to that person. They do not use size 18 as much as they should for print – though… size 18 makes the most money." The pathetic truth is plus-sized models' bodies are headed in the opposite direction of actual plus-size women's bodies.

According to the CDC, the average American woman is a size 14, and yet the dominant sizes in the industry are 0, 2, and 4. At size 8, the plus-size models are considerably smaller than the average American women, and if that isn't indicative of how delusional we are about what the majority of woman's bodies look like, I don't know what is.

 

As a fat woman, I long to see ladies who look like me modeling the clothes being sold to me. Many "plus-size" models are beautiful and healthy, and I'm so happy they have flourishing careers that perhaps felt impossible ten or fifteen years ago (see the gorgeous, awesome Robyn Lawley above, and the gorgeous, awesome Sophie Tweed-Simmons below) — but I think they should be doing that in the straight-size market. Because that's what they are: straight-sized. A size 8 can shop pretty much anywhere a size 2 can shop, but size 14 cannot. Hence, a size 8 is not an actual plus size.

 

Of course, we continue to see fashion predominately on thin bodies because we're told that's what sells. But the fact is, it's just what we've been fed for so long that we don't know what the alternative would look like. This could change, but the fashion industry would have to want it to. According to research published in PLoS ONE, Seeing diverse bodies makes us more comfortable with body diversity — meaning the more size 14 women we see, the more we're like "hey! she looks good!" instead of "avert thine eyes from the Chubster McThunderThighs"! If we saw more average-sized women in media, the more comfortable we would be with those images and the more we'd want to see ladies who look like us in movies, TV, and ad campaigns. From where I'm standing (OK, sitting) (in my size 16 Old Navy yoga pants), it sounds like a stellar idea.

[Clauds]

OH DAMN. Ed is gone? Some contracts are in danger 

[Prettyphile]

1 minute ago, Clauds said:

OH DAMN. Ed is gone? Some contracts are in danger 

That's exactly what I thought.  Check skype

[bump]

 

19 hours ago, everyboulevard said:

I'm still not surprised by no train like an angel tags or anything since it seems that's about to be discontinued soon. My store used to have a whole section dedicated to sport and now its a back wall with just a few things left, not to mention the website doesn't look like they're releasing anything new, nor has VS Sport instagram really been updated either. Sort of makes sense with the push for Pink Sport but also disappointing because the incredible sport bra is the only sports bra that works for me. 

I remember reading somewhere else on here that Sport wasn't doing well. I always thought they got rid of Swim to focus on on PINK and Sport, but if that's true then they brought back Swim just to have Sport probably get canceled, and now Ed's out and there may be no show....

I'm glad there is a shakeup at VS happening! 

 

I wonder if Ed really retired (he is probably at the age where he could), or did he quit? VS has been a mess for a while now so I wonder if Monica and Sophia are next? I hope they are able to retire adn live a nice life or get a better job, but I don't want them at VS anymore. 

11 hours ago, medicenevs said:

Dear God, I know we don't speak very often anymore but can Sophia and Monica be next? Thank you.

LOL yes that's exactly what I was thinking. 

[everyboulevard]

So who were Ed's favorites again? Better get them on career watch! 

[ivancica]

Over 100 Models Petition Victoria’s Secret on Sexual Misconduct

 

Quote

NEW YORK, United States — Over one hundred models have signed a letter released on Tuesday morning to Victoria’s Secret Lingerie Chief Executive John Mehas, urging the brand to make a legally binding commitment to protect contractors like models from sexual misconduct.

 

“From the headlines about L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner’s close friend and associate, Jeffrey Epstein, to the allegations of sexual misconduct by photographers Timur Emek, David Bellemere and Greg Kadel, it is deeply disturbing that these men appear to have leveraged their working relationships with Victoria’s Secret to lure and abuse vulnerable girls,” reads the petition spearheaded by the Model Alliance, a nonprofit research and advocacy organisation led by Sara Ziff. The former model encountered Epstein early in her career, and recently wrote about it for The Cut.

 

Co-signers include former Victoria’s Secret “Angel” Doutzen Kroes as well as models Christy Turlington Burns, Carolyn Murphy, Edie Campbell, Gemma Ward, Iskra Lawrence, Karen Elson and Milla Jovovich. The letter is also signed by the Hollywood-led initiative Time’s Up and industry leaders such as photographers Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and former Glamour Editor-in-chief Cindi Leive.

 

A representative for Victoria’s Secret did not immediately return a request for comment.

 

The Model Alliance’s letter calls on Victoria’s Secret to sign on to its Respect programme, which was designed by models and released in 2018 to formalise the ways in which models can report workplace problems across industries and create an independent body to investigate complaints, as well as provide education and training. Companies that sign onto the programme make a binding commitment to its principles. This commitment also applies to a company’s contractors, such as photographers, agents and vendors.

 

"Models are really finding their voice and excepting more of companies, especially Victoria's Secret," said Ziff in an interview. "Victoria's Secret is not just dealing with problems that are cosmetic. This isn't a marketing issue, this is a human rights issue."

 

L Brands was already in conversation with the Model Alliance about signing the Respect initiative, said Model Alliance board member Agatha Schmaedick Tan. But the organisation decided to escalate the process with this public letter partially because allegations of sexual misconduct against photographer Timur Emek, who has worked with Victoria's Secret, encouraged more models to share their stories and concerns with the alliance in recent weeks. Victoria's Secret has not commented on Emek.

 

The call to action comes during a difficult period for Victoria’s Secret, the American lingerie behemoth owned by Leslie H. Wexner’s L Brands. Not only is the company facing sliding sales due to changing consumer attitudes, which are turning against its sexualised image, but Wexner’s decades-long relationship with sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein has come under intense scrutiny. The New York Times recently reported that Epstein presented himself to models as a scout for the brand. Wexner has denied any knowledge of this behaviour, and the L Brands board of directors has hired a firm to investigate Epstein’s relationship with the company. Last year, reporting in the Boston Globe alleged photographers who worked with Victoria’s Secret had a history of sexual misconduct with its models.

 

Victoria’s Secret has long made supermodels a big part of its brand. Some of the girls who work for the company are called “Angels” and enjoy lucrative, multi-year contracts, appearing in the company’s once anticipated, now criticised made-for-television runway show led by Ed Razek, the brand’s longtime marketing head who announced his resignation on Monday. This year, the lingerie brand will not stage or televise its traditional fashion show.

 

“Victoria’s Secret has the opportunity to be a leader, to use its power and influence to bring about the changes that are urgently needed in our industry,” read the letter. “Every day, fashion brands, publishing companies, and agencies set the norm of what’s acceptable and what’s not in fashion.”

 

Victoria’s Secret’s support would be a win for the Model Alliance’s Respect initiative, which has widespread support from models but has yet to sign on any companies. In 2018, Condé Nast created its own code of conduct following allegations of sexual misconduct against several of its contract photographers. Kering and LVMH jointly signed a charter in 2017 that also established workplace conduct norms for models. Both Condé Nast and Kering have also committed to not working with child models under the age of 18.

 

"The modeling industry is largely unregulated, which has created challenges to establishing even the most reasonable baseline protections," said Ziff, describing models as a highly vulnerable workforce. "It's like the wild west."

 

[medicenevs]

3 hours ago, everyboulevard said:

So who were Ed's favorites again? Better get them on career watch! 

Nah, Ed's favorites are safe, they sell well (most of them at least).

[Bettina Saw-Morgan]

 

[Clauds]

I'm sorry but other than the show, which is attended by many photographers and not necessarily invited by the brand, has Timur ever even worked with VS? Because I don't recall him ever working with them and I've had it with everyone linking him and his shit to VS.

 

VS has made mistakes and they are stupid, we know it, but people throw shit at them just for the sake of it at this point.

[GlitterAndWings]

8 minutes ago, Clauds said:

I'm sorry but other than the show, which is attended by many photographers and not necessarily invited by the brand, has Timur ever even worked with VS? Because I don't recall him ever working with them and I've had it with everyone linking him and his shit to VS.

 

VS has made mistakes and they are stupid, we know it, but people throw shit at them just for the sake of it at this point.

Other than the show, the only VS-related shoots he's ever done were with some of their models wearing their lingerie and also with Alessandra in Cannes.

[Bettina Saw-Morgan]

 

[CandleVixen]

Thank you again Pretty for the article. That is indeed a disheartening read. 

 

re Ed resigning and retiring; which current angels are/were his favorites? My brain isn’t much today.

[jessicanicole]

Ed seemed to favor most of the blondes.