The Death of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show
- Mia Davies
- Nov 23, 2019
- 3 min read
"We think it’s important to evolve the marketing of Victoria’s Secret. There will be more to come as that continues to get evaluated," said Stuart B. Burgdoerfer, the executive vice president of L Brands, Victoria's Secret parent company.
The CEO, Lex Wexner also said "Going forward we don’t believe network television is the right fit. In 2019 and beyond, we’re focusing on developing exciting and dynamic content and a new kind of event—delivered to our customers on platforms that she’s glued to… and in ways that will push the boundaries of fashion in the global digital age."
Personally I think it is one of the biggest yet saddest movements of the decade. To some people it's revolutionary, but to me I believe it is a real shame. I'm going to be honest and say initially I believed the glamorisation of obesity was the main contributing factor, since VS are known to cater for smaller, more petite bodies - but that is their brand, their trademark. Why should it have to change? However, after reading a series of articles, and listening to a range of opinions I did notice the deeper issue, that Victoria's Secret are not wanting to move with the times.
It is said that the change is due to the brand attempting to become more diverse and accepting - something the brand has been heavily criticised for not being. This has been evident through plus-size models in their most recent campaign, as well as employing their first openly trans model, Valentina Sampaio for the VS Pink athletic range:
The hiring of Valentina in August 2019 marked a positive movement in the brand after the shocking interview with Chief Marketing Officer, Ed Razek in November 2018. He chose to reveal why the brand tend to not cast transgender and plus-size models in their shows. In an interview with Vogue he defended the VS "point of view" by stating that although he had considered putting both transgender and plus models in the show, he hadn't simply because, "we market who we sell to, and we don't market to the whole world". Continuing to defend his remark he said "we attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes [in 2000]. No one had any interest in it, still don’t." Personally I think this is a valid point, perhaps that makes me look cynical or small minded, but he has made an honest, conscious decision in regards to the brand's historical target consumer.
So hiring Valentina a year after making the remark previously mentioned, and receiving all the backlash, I do think this is a great step forward since the company have obviously assessed the situation in which most brands are at in this current time. But again, why cancel the annual show? Every year for as long as I can remember, me and my friends would be so excited for the show, and the aftermath on social media was always huge. Initially I couldn't help but wonder how much coverage/attention the brand will have lost out on from the cancellation, but then it clicked how much public attention cancelling the show will actually get. Look at this post for example. If it wasn't for the show ending, I doubt I would've written about the brand, or really assed the issues associated with VS.
To summarise my view of the situation, of course change is welcomed and accepted, but in my opinion I think they should've stuck to their routes and firmed it. A good option would have been a separate show including realistic bodies, as Razek stated "the [current] show is a fantasy" - emphasising it is beautified and in no way realistic! Hence the use of the world's most famous, beautiful models (who more than likely eat leaves for fun🤷🏽♀️).
Linking back to my quote from Wexner at the beginning of this post, I really do hope they make a historical return within the next year or so, and come back with something that incorporates both the usual brand image but with a quirky twist. It needs to be something outstanding to gain the interest of the world again - but judging by his comment, that is exactly what we should expect.
Mia
xo
The following articles are the main ones I focused on:
Comments