Victoria’s Secret’s annual fashion show is making a comeback after a four-year hiatus, it says People. The target image? To create a “culturally relevant” show.
It’s been four years since lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret’s last fashion show.
The brand has held annual fashion shows since 1995, when the first show was held at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Over the years, the show has become increasingly ambitious in terms of both costumes and entertainment – artists such as Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd have all performed at the show.
Was accused of a lack of diversity
In 2019, the show was not televised due to declining viewership. At the same time, the event’s lack of diversity was criticized after the head of marketing for Victoria’s Secret’s parent company L Brand, Ed Razek, said in an interview with Vogue that he did not think that, for example, transgender people and plus-size models belonged in the show:
“The show is a fantasy,” he said at the time.
Although Razek subsequently apologized for his statement, the upcoming year’s screening was cancelled. In February 2020 published The New York Times in addition, a report in which Razek was accused of sexual harassment, bullying, and of having created a work environment characterized by misogyny – accusations that he has denied.
A “culturally relevant” show
A couple of weeks ago, the news broke that the controversial fashion show is making a comeback in 2023, something like Retail Dive was the first to report.
A spokesperson for Victoria’s Secret & Co tells People that the company has a commitment to women and “is always innovative and creative in all areas of the business to continue to put our customer at the center of everything we do.”
Plans to resume the show at some stage have been known since 2021. According to CNBC told the company’s CEO, Martin Waters, that it planned to bring back the show but that it was in “no rush” to do so, but that it would be remade to be “culturally relevant”.
Earlier this month, Waters told us that it has now brought in more models and ambassadors of different sizes and identities, it writes E!.
