Victoria’s Secret's Rebrand Is Championing Women’s Empowerment
Over the years, Victoria’s Secret has done a wonderful job at both contributing to and capitalising on the body insecurities of women the world over. It’s without a shadow of doubt that one could pass a chunk of blame for modern female body dissatisfaction on to the lingerie brand, with countless women growing up with their ‘flawless’ ad campaigns and restrictive sizing charts.
Millennials and early Gen Z-ers of the world will know of Victoria’s Secret by reputation: the global domination, the Angels, the annual star-studded fashion show. The brand and its ambassadors made no secret about their determination to remain exclusive, to the young, the thin, and the beautiful. Media outlets happily sat down with show models – the Victoria’s Secret Angels – prior to shows, enquiring into every last detail surrounding the methods in which they achieved their bodies, publishing the same information and inspiring young girls to try and do the same. They were the true meaning of unattainable, and it allowed Victoria’s Secret to thrive.
That was until recently, of course, when Victoria’s Secret had its downfall rather widely documented in the press, and was openly criticised on social media not just for its brand ethos, but for its board of directors. From the 2018 outcry following chief marketing officer Ed Razek’s transphobic comments about excluding trans women from “the fantasy” to the New York Times investigation highlighting widespread bullying and harassment of employees and models alike, it’s been a slow but steady decline for what once was the world’s biggest lingerie brand. The decision to cancel the 2019 show in an effort to “evolve the marketing” was merely the cherry on top of a pretty big realisation that Victoria’s Secret no longer stood in the same regard it had a couple of decades ago.
So what do you do when you can no longer profit off of “selling the fantasy”? You rebrand, of course. And with a pandemic thrown into the mix, there was very little else for Victoria’s Secret to do than to go back to the drawing board. In February of this year, the brand named its new CEO, Martin Waters, in a bid to help salvage what they could of the company.
With the show and the Angels as we know them now in the bin, the new – very much overdue – era of Victoria’s Secret starts. Now, the company looks to a diverse group of women, celebrated in their industries not just for their talents but for the reputation as way-pavers. Announced yesterday, the VS Collective are swapping bombshells for trailblazers and joining the swathes of brands already using third wave feminism and female empowerment as their new USP. Included in the Collective are the likes of footballer and LGBTQA+ activist Megan Rapinoe, actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas and plus model Paloma Elsesser. The VS Collective mission is to create new programs, content and product lines, championing women’s causes, including The VS Global Fund for Women’s Cancers, the company’s new breast cancer fundraising initiative.
On the VS Collective site, member Rapinoe is quoted: “I felt myself on the outside looking in with brands in the beauty and fashion industry and I am thrilled to be creating a space that sees the true spectrum of ALL women.” She was previously quoted by the New York Times branding the ‘old’ Victoria’s Secret as “patriarchal, sexist” and “really harmful”.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas wrote on Instagram: “Representation matters. It’s crucial for us to show everyone ALL over the world that they matter and are seen! As a founding partner of #TheVSCollective and advisor to the business this is exactly what I intend to do.”
Beyond the Collective, the company has overhauled their executive team, and introduced a predominantly-female board of directors. The move to a more inclusive image was a necessary one, otherwise sealing the fate of Victoria’s Secret and promising certain doom.
With such a large-scale overhaul changing the blueprint of Victoria’s Secret as we know it, it poses a new question: are they too little, too late?
Image credit: Victoria’s Secret
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