Gone are the tall, lean and perfectly toned Victoria's Secret Angels, replaced by a collective of models from various backgrounds
The annual Victoria's Secret fashion show will make a comeback this fall, in a completely reinvented format. Image: Photography Courtesy of Victoria Secret
Four years after canceling its legendary Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, tainted by various controversies, the famous lingerie brand has announced the return of its annual runway showcase with a new format, billed as more inclusive, more artistic, and based on a vision of beauty that's more rooted in reality. Gone are the tall, lean and perfectly toned Angels, replaced by a collective of models from various backgrounds. They will be starring in a fashion extravaganza broadcast live this fall, in an attempt to win over an audience that's split between excitement and skepticism.
For over 20 years, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show energized the world of fashion, and more particularly lingerie, before being brought down by the many controversies that tainted the image of the brand. The final edition, held in 2018, before the show was permanently canceled, saw its audience drop to 3.2 million viewers, compared to more than nine million four years earlier. The cause? A series of controversies, a lack -- it not total absence—of inclusivity in the show's cast, and one notable competitor that was way ahead on the diversity front—Savage x Fenty, Rihanna's brand, having just launched in 2018.
First held in 1995, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show soon found a following through its grandiose nature, but also through its tall, lean and perfectly toned models, including Naomi Campbell, Heidi Klum, Gisele BĂ¼ndchen, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Cindy Bruna, Gigi and Bella Hadid, and Kendall Jenner, to name just a few. A cast that held much appeal, at least at first, but which ended up being viewed in a dimmer light, as promoting an ideal of beauty far removed from reality, not to mention an outdated, objectified view of women. Despite heightened societal awareness, driven by various movements including body positivity, the Victoria's Secret brand kept on course, and eventually attracted the scorn of an audience that turned instead to the more diverse bodies, sizes and cuts of the new brand founded by Rihanna. This proved a first notable setback for the lingerie behemoth, which then found itself at the center of various controversies.
Also read: Why did we fall for the angels?