The Official Victoria's Secret Thread

[tiika]

On 6/22/2021 at 6:04 AM, Clauds said:

I just think VS was severely lacking in diversity, and by this I mean they could have used more models of different ethnicities and body types while still working exclusively with models who are a) beautiful and b) fit the bill for "selling the fantasy" c) don't look like they are related, say for example, girls like Kate Upton, Jessica Gomes, Brooklyn Decker, Bar Refaeli, Irina Shayk (back in 2010/2011), Nina Agdal, Rose Bertram, Hannah Ferguson and many other girls that VS deemed as "too commercial" but were/are more successful with the audience. 

 

I adore Elsa Hosk, everyone knows it, it's no secret, but did we really need Elsa, Candice, Stella and Martha to be Angels at the same time? No, we did not, I am sure the average person can't even tell them apart, same when they had Candice/Lindsay/Erin/Toni rotating together, and if they wanted to keep the whole "we only do high fashion models" thing then they should have contracted someone like Liu Wen in 2011. This is not to say I blame the models, but VS made very poor choices from 2010 and on IMO in terms of targeting different audiences. To this day, we are in 2021 and the amount Spanish speaker models VS has had in the last 10 days is zero. Imagine if VS had gotten someone like Daniela Lopez Osorio as an Angel, use her to to sell your bras and panties to the Latin audiences.

 

Particularly with the rise of social media I think VS was way too slow in getting models who are successful in that area, look how long they took before they started working with Barbara Palvin again even though she was clearly a fan favorite and had a solid social media presence. VS waited too long to change and start listening to their customer base, I really think it's too late for them now 

 

I totally agree with this! They could have made less radical changes earlier and it would have helped them a lot.

[LilMatty]

The Internet killed VS, SI swimsuit, etc.  When I was in high school and college in the 90's, we did not have Internet.  So we had magazines and TV shows like Baywatch to keep us horny.  I remember in college getting a Maxim or VS in the mail and I was bust for a bit.. lol...Now, today, kids have the Internet.  They can find beautiful models on a Google search.  There are a million on Instagram (including mine) pages that show beautiful models whether it be a fan or a model herself.  I grew up with Stephanie Seymour,  Karen Mulder, Daniela Pestova, Elle McPherson,  Kathy Ireland, etc.  They were as close to perfect as possible.  It is a shame.  My fetish has always been models.  I am afraid the age of beautiful models is ending.  Now it is PC with fat models, ugly models, etc.

[calwatch]

They still have B&M stores where women can try on their goods, and have to split the middle between Freddy's, Dreamgirl, etc., glamorous brands like Aubade and Leonisa, and "inclusive" brands like Aerie. Although you can do pretty without rubbing it in to those who aren't - I think Venus, Adore Me, and H&M do it. But yeah, Insta models sell well for the younger target demographic that buy lingerie (men and women). If they have a talent other than looking pretty, like being funny, singing, or dancing, even better. 

[Prettyphile]

Victoria's Secret model Bridget Malcolm slams the lingerie brand as a 'joke' for adopting new woke image as she tries on old bra to show how underweight she was at 2016 show

• Taking to TikTok, the 29-year-old showed fans a 30A cup bra she had worn in the show, trying on the skimpy garment before revealing she is now a 'healthy' 34B 
• She also claimed she was turned away for the show the following year by Edward Razek, the former Chief Marketing Officer for L Brands 
• 'He said my body did not look good enough,' she said, revealing that her cup size in 2017 had increased to a healthier 30B
• Razek quit his role in 2019, days after Victoria's Secret hired its first transgender model, having previously said 'transsexual' stars should not be cast in the show 
• Bridget also accused Victoria's Secret of 'performative allyship' after the brand announced it was replacing its Angels with 'diverse spokeswomen' 
• She branded the move 'a joke', suggesting that it has only been made as to try and boost the brand's reputation, and said that it has come 'too little, too late' 
• The 'Angels' have been replaced by a 'culturally relevant' group of seven women who will form the 'VS Collective' and its show has been axed in favor of a podcast

Quote

 

Former Victoria's Secret model Bridget Malcolm has slammed the lingerie brand's woke new image as a 'joke', accusing the company of 'performative allyship' while revealing how underweight she was while walking in its annual show back in 2016.  

The 29-year-old hit out at the company in a new TikTok video in which she tried on the skimpy 30A cup bra that she wore in the Victoria's Secret show to demonstrate how tiny it is on her now-'healthy' size 34B breasts.   

She went on to detail her negative experiences with the lingerie brand, which recently announced that it has axed its catwalk show and cast of Angels in favor of hiring a group of seven 'diverse spokeswomen', including transgender and plus-size models, who will promote its woke new rebrand in a podcast.    

Too little, too late Victoria's Secret,' Bridget captioned the video, adding: 'Your performative allyship is a joke.'

Performative allyship, also known as performative activism, is a term used to describe when a person or brand publicly aligns itself with a cause in order to improve their public image and reputation.   

Bridget, who has often claimed she felt pressure to maintain an unhealthy weight during her days as a model, also opened up about her own negative experiences with Victoria's Secret while trying on the sparkly white bra that she had modeled backstage at its 2016 show. 

'I found my bra from the 2016 Victoria's Secret fashion show,' she explained in her TikTok post, while holding up the tiny undergarment. 'It is a size 30A.

'I am now a size 34B. Which is healthy for me.'  

Putting on the undergarment over a red-and-white bikini top, Bridget showed how small it is on her now, before sharing images of herself modeling the bra backstage at the 2016 show, which took place in Paris, revealing that it was actually to 'big for her' at the time.  

She also shared that she was rejected from the show the following year by former Victoria's Secret executive Ed Razek, who she claimed told her that her 'body did not look good enough'. 

'I was rejected from the show in 2017 by Ed Razek,' she said. 'He said "my body did not look good enough". I wore a size 30B at that point.'

Looking back on photos of herself backstage in 2016, Bridget said that she is now heartbroken over how 'sad' she was at the time. 

'The sadness behind my eyes from the 2016 show breaks my heart,' she added.  

Razek resigned from his role as Chief Marketing Officer for Victoria's Secret parent company L Brands in 2019, days after the lingerie brand hired its first transgender model - having sparked outrage the previous year when he insisted that its show 'should not' feature 'transsexuals' because it 'is a fantasy'.

His comments prompted fury the world over - forcing the marketing guru to issue a public apology. 

Razek then announced his retirement from L Brands, where he had worked for more than three decades, in August 2019, less than a week after Victoria's Secret revealed that it had hired its first transgender model, Valentina Sampaio. 

At the time, Victoria's Secret had come under increasing criticism for its blatant lack of diversity and for promoting a hypersexualized image of women. 

In the two years since Razek stepped down from the brand, it has made numerous attempts to try and diversify its image amid plummeting sales - and in November 2019, it announced that it had canceled its fashion show following years of backlash over the 'sexist, outdated' event. 

Then earlier this month, the lingerie giant unveiled a 'diverse' new line-up of spokeswomen - including Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Megan Rapinoe - who will replace its infamous Angels and will promote Victoria's Secret not by posing in underwear but instead by 'appearing on a podcast and in marketing materials'.  

Priyanka and Megan will reportedly join Sudanese-Australian model Adut Akech, freestyle skier Eileen Gu, Brazilian transgender model Valentina Sampaio, plus-size model Paloma Elsesser, and journalist Amanda de Cadenet, who is set to host a 10-episode podcast where the women will share their stories. 

Traditionally, the brand has been promoted by a roster of high-profile supermodels, with those under contract to the company known as Victoria's Secret 'Angels'. 

Asked whether the Angels would make a comeback in the relaunch, brand chief executive Martin Waters said: 'Right now, I don't see it as being culturally relevant.' 

Waters, who was appointed chief executive in February after serving as head of Victoria’s Secret’s international business, told the New York Times that the brand 'needed to stop being about what men want and to be about what women want.' 

He added: 'I've known that we needed to change this brand for a long time, we just haven't had the control of the company to be able to do it.' 

Former chief executive Cynthia Fedus-Fields added that although it was ‘probably time for the Angels to go’ the brand had to find a way to ‘move forward while maintaining existing customers.’

She continued: 'If it was a $7billion business pre-COVID, and much of that $7billion was built on this blatant sexy approach, be careful with what you’re doing'.

Bridget has been incredibly outspoken in her criticism of Victoria's Secret in recent years, revealing in a series of TikTok videos posted earlier this month that she faced enormous pressure from the brand to 'get skinnier'. 

'There was this culture that was created that was like, if you just stay, if you get a bit skinnier, if you keep doing what we want you to do, you're going to be an Angel and you're going to be world famous and it's going to be amazing,' she said. 

'And I was a kid, I was young and I hadn't developed a full sense of identity at that point, and so I believed it, and I was like, I want this. I would be stupid if I didn't make the most of this opportunity,' she went on.

'So I stayed. I once had one of the top photographers from Victoria's Secret say if you got skinnier you would become an Angel. And I thought great I am so close. But the reality was nothing was ever enough because it's the patriarchy, sorry.'

 

 

[Schemer]

Hold on...They are not doing the VSFS anymore (I knew about that) but they are replacing it with a fucking PODCAST?!

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

 

Is this some kind of a prank?

 

Who the hell is going to tune in to listen to Victoria's Secret podcast about social issues?

[Prettyphile]

3 minutes ago, Schemer said:

Hold on...They are not doing the VSFS anymore (I knew about that) but they are replacing it with a fucking PODCAST?!

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

 

Is this some kind of a prank?

 

Who the hell is going to tune in to listen to Victoria's Secret podcast about social issues?

That was my thought as well. I just don't see how this is going to help them sell Bras & Panties.

[medicenevs]

Bridget really said "screw you and your fake woke brand" and I'm here for it, call them out.

[tiika]

On 6/30/2021 at 11:41 AM, medicenevs said:

Bridget really said "screw you and your fake woke brand" and I'm here for it, call them out.

 

x2

[bump]

Love what Bridget said! This brand is totally a joke now! they are fake and only worried about money, which they are not going to get with the direction they are going. This collective and podcast thing is so stupid. 

[claudiawilliams]

we're going to pretend that every brand, except for vs, being inclusive now is real and not marketing... sure. also, she (bridget) was told that sh*t by ed who left the brand years ago. i'm sorry about bridget and all those girls who have suffered the consequences of this industry and its standards, but she can't tell me vs inclusiveness is fake when they're just trying to sell, like every single brand? it's funny how people buy the "all bodies are beautiful" from others brands but not from vs (it's vs fault too ngl) 

[JazzyJas2.0]

Idk Rihanna's brand seems to be doing just fine  without the stupid podcast too

[toodarnhot]

On 7/4/2021 at 11:23 AM, claudiawilliams said:

we're going to pretend that every brand, except for vs, being inclusive now is real and not marketing... sure. also, she (bridget) was told that sh*t by ed who left the brand years ago. i'm sorry about bridget and all those girls who have suffered the consequences of this industry and its standards, but she can't tell me vs inclusiveness is fake when they're just trying to sell, like every single brand? it's funny how people buy the "all bodies are beautiful" from others brands but not from vs (it's vs fault too ngl) 

 

Obviously Aerie and Savage etc are just selling an idea to make sales. However, I think the issue is that we all saw how long and hard VS resisted any sort of change. They visibly dragged their feet for years, and made purposeful choices within the brand to not adapt to the new market. Now they're desperately doing this huge overcorrection that any consumer won't be able to believe. If they had made slower changes throughout the years, or eased into it, people might be more willing to buy their new strategy. 

[La Vie Est Belle]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CREYDjMgr3h/?utm_medium=copy_link

[peroxideblonde]

 

SI doing a shoot with one of my fav singers and now VS too with a commercial, must be my lucky year

*stream life support and reckless by madison beer on spotify

[Prettyphile]

Victoria’s Secret Throwing Out Iconic ‘Angels’ Imagery in Stores as It Closes Hundreds of Locations and Loses Millions

Victoria’s Secret is remodeling its stores across the globe and throwing out its iconic “Angels” imagery, hot pink color scheme, and sexy decor as part of its larger rebranding effort — one that’s been criticized as woke and “performative” by former models and included naming women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe and transgender model Valentina Sampaio brand ambassadors.

After canceling its annual fashion show in November 2019, Victoria’s Secret is now erasing the brand’s longtime Angels aesthetic that helped turn supermodels like Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, Ariana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Karlie Kloss, and Candice Swanepoel into household names.

The televised show had become the biggest fashion event of the year with millions tuning in every year since its launch in 1995.

A spokesperson for Victoria’s Secret confirmed to the New York Post that the brand is revamping all of its stores and throwing out the Angels in favor of plus-sized mannequins and imagery that reflects real life rather than fantasy.

The Post reports:

Quote

    When Victoria’s Secret’s three-story flagship in midtown Manhattan reopens at the end of July, it will be scrubbed of any evidence of its former pride and joy: the Victoria’s Secret Angels. [Emphasis added]

    …

    Customers can also bid farewell to the videos that ran on a constant loop on television screens of its fashion shows and interviews with models, a spokesperson confirmed. [Emphasis added]

    …

    About half of Victoria’s Secret’s 1,400 global stores have begun to swap out the angel imagery for a look that is “more inviting for women to enter,” Victoria’s Secret’s new creative director, Raul Martinez, told The Post. [Emphasis added]

 

Last May, Victoria’s Secret announced that it would permanently close around 250 stores in the U.S. and Canada in 2020. “It’s parent company L Brands said overall sales for the three months ended May 2 fell 37 percent compared with a year ago. Gross profit fell 59 percent. The company lost $275.2 million in the quarter, compared with net income of $40.3 a year ago. Profits per share were down 807 percent for a loss of 99 cents per share,” Breitbart News reported.

Former Victoria’s Secret model Bridget Malcolm made headlines around the world last month when she said the lingerie company’s woke re-branding is “perforative” and a “joke.”

 

Victoria’s Secret CEO Martin Waters is advising store associates of the brand’s rebrand, saying “We are moving from what men want to what women want; We are going from a look to a feeling, from excluding most women to including all women, from mostly unattainable to grounded in real life.”

 

Only three former Angels with Victoria’s Secret will work with the brand moving forward: Models Helena Christensen, Grace Elisabeth, and Taylor Hill.

 

Instead of the Angels, Victoria’s Secret announced this year brand ambassadors soccer player Megan Rapinoe, transgender model Valentina Sampaio, and plus-size model Paloma Elsesser, among a few others.

[Prettyphile]

I understand why they would keep Taylor, but why Grace over Barbara? (not that I'm complaining)

 

[Clauds]

Because Grace is American, maybe? Also a new, young mom, first better with their new narrative than Barbara. Can't think of anything else 

 

Wonder how Jasmine, Lais, Josephine, Romee and all the girls who got the cut feel though, it's gotta suck

[Siemgi]

13 hours ago, Clauds said:

Because Grace is American, maybe? Also a new, young mom, first better with their new narrative than Barbara. Can't think of anything else 

 

Wonder how Jasmine, Lais, Josephine, Romee and all the girls who got the cut feel though, it's gotta suck

The supermodels aren’t going away entirely. There will just be fewer of them.

“The word angel is retired but that doesn’t mean the women we worked with as angels are retired,” Martinez said, adding, “We did have conversations with the former angels. It was an honest conversation.”

Martinez declined to elaborate on that conversation, but said at least three Angels continue to represent the brand: Taylor Hill, 25, who became an angel in 2015, Grace Elisabeth, 24, who became an angel in 2016 and was recently photographed nine months pregnant for the brand’s first ever Mother’s Day campaign, and Helena Christensen, 52, who was photographed with her 21 year-old son for the Mother’s Day campaign.

 

Victoria’s Secret scrubs the Angels from its stores in revamp (nypost.com)

 

The post is actually less clear about who will go than Breitbar made it sound.

[Aztecrose]

RIP Victoria's Secret

[calwatch]

Victoria's Secret has separated from L Brands and is now Victoria's Secret & Co. - https://www.victoriassecretandco.com/ The rest of the company is now Bath and Body Works. 

 

There's the usual corporate pap about inclusion, community, corporate responsibility, etc. there but their stock price has taken off, which means that it's likely the current path will continue.