The new three-part Hulu documentary series “Victoria Secret: Angels and Demons” begins with a backstage scene in which the lingerie brand’s supermodels are waiting to go on stage. They grin and pose, their faces lit by strobe lights and framed by an endless stream of photographers. Then, the moment arrives: it’s show time.
The Victoria’s Secret fashion show has had a rocky recent history. The company stopped its annual spectacle in 2019 amid declining ratings and criticism that it was perpetuating unrealistic body standards for women. But this week, the company announced that it will bring the fashion show back, albeit in a different format. The brand has ditched the live fashion show in favor of a filmed version released on Prime Video. In addition, it’s swapping out the iconic “Angels” branding for a more inclusive campaign dubbed “The Icon.”
But the move isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. The brand has a lot of work to do to prove that it can move past its legacy of white, cisgender women as the face and voice of its brand. And it will need more than just a new campaign and the return of the lingerie runway to reclaim its relevance in a more diverse world.
Founded in 1977, Victoria’s Secret quickly became the largest lingerie retailer in the United States, largely thanks to its iconic annual fashion shows and high-profile TV commercials featuring the eponymous models. The brand’s initial success was based on a simple concept: sell lingerie that is both attractive and comfortable. The initial line of bras and panties featured soft fabrics, comfortable shapes, and flattering colors. But as the company expanded and grew in popularity, it began to evolve from a lingerie line into a full-fledged lifestyle brand. The fashion shows oozed opulence and exclusivity, with Fantasy Bras bedazzled with diamonds worth up to $15 million and a troupe of thin, supermodel-esque “Angels” strutting down the runway in skimpy undergarments.
Then, as the lingerie industry started to shift in a more body-positive direction—with competitors like Aerie and ThirdLove drawing in younger, more inclusive audiences—Victoria’s Secret began to struggle. In 2018, then-CMO Ed Razek infamously told Vogue that including plus-sized and transgender models would ruin the “fantasy” of the fashion show, and the brand’s image suffered accordingly.
But the relaunch of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show and the launch of the VS Collective—an ad campaign featuring trailblazing partners who represent the brand’s values—mark an attempt to right those wrongs. The brand is also reintroducing swimwear and activewear, categories that it has largely exited in recent years in an attempt to appeal to a more diversified audience.
The return of the VS Fashion Show will help to bring the company back into the mainstream, but there’s still a long way to go for the company to make a sustainable comeback. It will need to offer a larger selection of products outside of its core market of bras and underwear to draw in shoppers, and it will need to ditch the tired tropes that have become synonymous with its brand name to truly thrive in the 21st century.