Victoria’s Secret’s famous runway show is back, but this time the company is taking more risks with its message. The brand’s new approach to its iconic fashion show—which will have Cher perform and a diverse cast of models (including curve stars Paloma Elsesser and Ashley Graham) walk the runway—may help the lingerie brand avoid another cancel culture fiasco like last year’s show, which was canceled amid controversy and low ratings.
The VS brand was once the self-proclaimed arbiter of feminity, defining femininity with barely covered supermodels in its catalogs and campaigns. Then the company’s reputation took a hit in the age of the Me Too movement, and it started to lose its shine. After years of declining ratings, Victoria’s Secret jettisoned its uber-sexy catwalk shows and began to focus on more inclusive messaging and modeling.
It was a move that was long overdue. Lingerie brands with more explicitly feminist values—including ThirdLove and Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty—began to chip away at Victoria’s Secret’s share of the market, and it was no longer enough to just sell expensive bras and panties. Then the #MeToo movement sparked calls for more representational inclusivity on social media and the Victoria’s Secret website, and the brand decided to take note.
During the show, which will air on December 2, Victoria’s Secret is promising to present an “evolved” version of its lingerie and underwear. The brand also tapped an all-woman musical lineup (including Cher) to appear onstage, and hired an emerging director—Margot Bowman—to capture the London peers selected to represent the VS 20—including actresses Stark and Phoebe Collings-James and designers Supriya Lele and Supriya Mukherjee—who were chosen to revamp the brand’s image with the help of an expert team.
The women were tasked with destroying old Victoria’s Secret tropes and building new ones. They were expected to bring their own sense of style and personality to the project, which was meant to show how women can be powerful, sexy and fierce all at once.
The night of the fashion show will be the first time the VS 20 collective has appeared together in front of a live audience. But will it be enough to revive the lingerie brand?
PR Week spoke with a handful of experts to find out if Victoria’s Secret’s rebrand is likely to succeed.
Experts tell us that while the show is still likely to be glitzy and glamorous, it’s important for the company to give its marketing team some wings so they can create something more authentic and meaningful.
They also agree that a major change could be the addition of plus-sized and transgender models. It’s unclear whether this will be a game-changer, though, as the brand is already facing pressure from activists to include more nonwhite models in its advertising campaigns. And some are speculating that the company will cancel the fashion show again next year, as it did in 2019. What do you think?