It's the foundation of every fashion show and the brand itself: lingerie. The first VS store opened in 1977 when founder Roy Raymond took initiative on his awkwardness buying his wife lingerie in large department stores. This was a novel creation in the world of lingerie, capitalizing on the taboo term ‘sexy’. At the peak of VS’s popularity, they recorded over $7.7 billion in sales, making up the majority of parent company L Brands' total revenues, simultaneously increasing its stock to $100 a share and expanding throughout 70+ countries. Its first televised fashion show occurred in 1999 with 1.5 million viewers; two years later,12.4 million people tuned in. However, in 2017, viewership was down to 5 million alongside declining sales and shifting opinions. 

Much of VS's reputation was built upon its Angels, described by NYT best selling author and fashion journalist Amy Odell as “an elite group of contracted supermodels who have helped define the American ideal of sexiness”. While former employees pushed for change, advocating for evolving the idea of the Angels to incorporate highlights about their personal lives and capturing them without makeup, upper management had little desire in taking action, possibly because what VS had going for itself worked for so long. Odell notes that a driving factor of VS's decline was, “the company’s one-note definition of sexy. [...] Victoria’s Secret finds itself an odd fit for lingerie’s new feminist era” in contrast to the rise of competitive brands like Savage X Fenty and Aerie. Rihanna even came out in a VOGUE interview saying ‘I’m not built like a Victoria’s Secret girl’ in reflection of the launch of her own lingerie brand (Nnadi). For example, according to TIME Magazine editor Mahita Gajanan, as of 2019, VS only offered up to a 40DDD cup size while competitor brands offered sizes up to 48I. 

In 2019, the brand ended its 23 year run of fashion shows. Until October 15, 2024. This highly anticipated show has been expected to act as an element of VS's rebrand, coinciding with the plethora of internal changes since in show's cancellation. For one, the VS Angels have been replaced with the VS Collective, a new group of ambassadors made up of activists, models, athletes, journalists and actors. In light of the launch of this new leadership program, author at Remake Fashion Magazine Lauren Bates references former CEO Martin Waters' announcement to the media “we got it wrong. We lost relevance with the modern woman. And she told us very clearly to change our focus from how people look to how people feel — from being about what he wants to being about what she wants." This statement reflects VS's efforts to increase body representation throughout branding and campaigns. Additionally, Paloma Elsesser, a top plus size supermodel, VS Collective Member, and participant in the 2024 fashion show explains how "'[she] didn’t start modeling to just do all the cool stuff; [she] did it to change the world. With platforms like VS, where you enter the living rooms of all people, that’s where you make radical change.'" These comments reflect the shifts in brand purpose and alignment that I anticipate to see through my review of the fashion show and modern Victoria's Secret. 

After researching the extensive history and ongoing rebranding of VS, I was inspired to study how the renewal of its fashion show compares to years past, examining whether the brand has lived up to expectations and fulfilled its promises of body diversity. Thus my research questions is detailed as follows: To what extent has Victoria’s Secret qualitatively and quantitatively fulfilled its promises of increased representation and inclusion in the renewal of their fashion show in 2024 compared to years past? My hypothesis is that their will be significant changes in how the runway represents bodies due to the plethora of internal brand changes and creation of the VS Collective. 

Victoria's Secret Angels

Image above courtesy of Fry, N. (2022a, July 14). How victoria’s secret created the American Fantasy Woman. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-victorias-secret-created-the-american-fantasy-woman 

The VS Collective