Victoria’s Secret bids goodbye to Angels- revamps its image with Priyanka Chopra and others to push empowerment

Victoria's Secret, the leading American lingerie brand, is doing away with its Angels- their elite group of fashion models, and replacing them with seven women diverse in size, backgrounds, and achievements. This is one of the biggest radical revamp of Victoria’s Secret commercial approach, where it takes a step to push women empowerment.

The 2019 annual event of this enticing brand was scrapped as a result of a wider cultural move that aimed to move away from its hyper-sexualized imagery and unrealistic beauty expectations.

In a bid to “re-imagine” its version of the runway event, the lingerie giant has put its foot in a “dramatic shift”. The seven new women figures are labelled as “accomplished women who share a common passion to drive positive change” by Victoria’s Secret collective.

The new group comprises of the US champion soccer player Megan Rapinoe who is also a women’s pay equity advocate; actor and entrepreneur Priyanka Chopra Jonas; Valentina Sampaio who is an LGBTQ+ activist and a model; as South Sudanese refugee and model Adut Akech; Amanda de Cadenet who is a journalist and an equality advocate; the champion of freestyle skier Eileen Gu; as well as the advocate of body-positivity Paloma Elsesser.

Denouncing a homogeneous beauty standard

This dramatic switch in the brand’s approach did not occur in a vacuum. Victoria’s Secret in the American women’s undergarment market saw a big dip to 21% in 2020, dimming from 32% in 2015. Other competing brands that label themselves as “anti-Victoria’s Secret” grew more popular because they focused on diversity and inclusivity.

In the former years, Victoria’s Secret only had a single lens called “sexy.” It abstained from products such as maternity bras and post-mastectomy bras because they were seen as “un-sexy.”

Soon, Victoria’s Secret had to respond to its long-standing criticism in 2019 because it continually promoted a homogeneous beauty standard, brushed off trans-women and even failed to protect its beauty models. It not only cancelled its runway show in 2019, but also sided with Bluebella, the lingerie company that promised to “encourage self-love, self-respect and self-worth. Because everybody is worth celebrating”.

Social Media Backlash

Social media was quick to respond and the conservatives called this campaign that wanted to target the “commie” demographics. Cora Harrington, a lingerie expert, pointed out that "any rebrand without a size expansion is DOA."

However, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, the finance expert, celebrated this particular announcement. She tweeted, "If [Megan Rapinoe] can rock a swimsuit like this, why in the world can't she be a Victoria's Secret model?" She's hot. Just look at her! Or do y'all just have a problem with strong, outspoken, empowered women?"

Writer Erin Ryan’s tweet made sense when she pointed to a topic of practicality. She wrote, "A better way for Victoria's secret to revamp its brand would be to try changing it up by making high-quality bras that fit comfortably and look nice.”

Upgrading Victoria’s Secret

Although the Angels won’t be a part of Victoria’s Secret, the lingerie stores will carry on with selling thongs and lacy intimates, as well as expand its product offerings with sportswear. The lingerie giant is soon going to offer nursing bras for sale too.

The founder of L Brands, the parent company, Leslie Wexner had links with a convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Victoria’s Secret is also making an effort to tackle this controversy as well. To uphaul and rebrand itself, the VS collective has separated itself from L Brands and is now an independent publicly-traded company.

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