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It’s truly the end of an era. No more glittery runway walks; no more angel wings. After nearly 25 years, The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has been canceled.
What’s up guys, I’m Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News and while this may seem like bombshell news, the lingerie company has been struggling for years to keep up with customer demands, both in the store and on the runway. Here’s what’s been going on:
To put it simply… customers aren’t pouring into the stores anymore for a number of reasons. L Brands, the parent company that owns Victoria’s Secret, released a statement announcing that the iconic fashion show was canceled for 2019. They addressed customer’s dissatisfaction head on.
“We’ll be communicating to customers, but nothing that I would say is similar in magnitude to the fashion show… You can be sure we’ll be communicating with customers through lots of vehicles including social media and various, more current platforms, if you will.”
Ok sidebar — Victoria’s Secret listening to customers is great and all, but the reason many believe the brand is in such a mess in the first place is because they’ve flat out IGNORED their customers. Let’s talk about one of the biggest issues plaguing the brand: Diversity.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Rhianna’s recent Fenty X Savage fashion show here. Take a look at the recent runway extravaganza:
Now take a look at Victoria’s Secret lineup.
It’s not hard to see the stark contrast between the two shows. Rhianna’s got models of every size, shape, and ethnicity. Victoria’s Secret’s got…. Stick Thin Models.
Victoria’s Secret lack of diversity was a HUGE controversy late last year with then cheif marketing officer Ed Razek made a declaration about the lingerie brand: They were uninterested in adding any plus size or transgender models to their model lineup. Why?
Quote, “Because the brand has a specific image, has a point of view. It has a history…Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special. That’s what it is.”
Ed, by the way, resigned earlier this year because as you can imagine, those comments didn’t go over well. As Vogue put it, Victoria’s Secret is still “Banking on Bombshells,” or one specific image of sexy, when the rest of us understand that beauty comes in multiple shapes and colors.
It didn’t help that Victoria’s Secret’s own models were speaking out against the brand too…
Bella Hadid earned those coveted Victoria’s Secret wings in 2018, which should have been a highlight of her career. But just last week she told Vogue that she never felt sexy on the glittery runway. Instead, she only recently felt comfortable modeling in lingerie for Savage X Fenty.
Bella said, “Rihanna’s amazing. For me, that was the first time on a runway that I felt really sexy. Because when I first did Fenty, I was doing other lingerie shows and I never felt powerful on a runway, like, in my underwear.”
And I mean, it shows on the runway. Look how confident Bella looks on Rhianna’s stage!
Now, look how different Bella’s vibe was at her Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show debut in 2016.
Turns out most of us agree with Bella: it’s freeing when we get to decide what makes us feel sexy, rather than have a company decide for us.
The revelation showed in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show ratings. Last year, a mere 3.3 Million people tuned in to the annual event — the lowest ratings ever, and only half of what the show received in 2018.
And listen, the “ratings” or sales in the store have been on the decline too. Customers not only want to SEE diversity on their screens, they NEED diversity in their products cause, shocker… most women don’t look like supermodels, and they certainly can’t wear a bra made for one.
So instead, customers have flocked to places that offer a range of sizes that fit all types of bodies. Start up lingerie companies like Third Love and Adore Me are flourishing at the same time Victoria’s Secret sales have been declining. As Third Love co- founder Heidi put it:
“Change is being forced by more women and more companies.”
Yup, women are putting their money elsewhere and no longer buying the image Victoria’s Secret is selling.
But what do you think?
Will you miss the annual event or are you more excited about the new wave of lingerie like Rhianna’s Savage X Fenty? Not gonna lie, I didn’t tune into the last VS show, but Savage X Fenty?! We had it blasting in the office while we danced along cheering.
But let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Im Sussan Mourad see you next time!
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