The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is set to make a comeback after a 4-year break, according to reports.
Stuart B. Burgdoerfer, chief financial officer and executive vice president of L Brands, announced the revival of the show in a conference call, according to People Magazine.
“We’re going to continue to lean into the marketing spend to invest in the business, both at top-of-funnel and also to support the new version of our fashion show, which is to come later this year,” Victoria’s Secret CFO Tim Johnson said on an earnings call according to Fox News.
The popular and iconic fashion show was put on pause in 2019, right around when the brand dropped the Victoria’s Secret Angel moniker. Controversy swirled around the fashion show’s noticeable lack of plus-sized models or models of different gender identities. Furthermore, the relationship of CEO Les Wexner with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein added additional scrutiny and public pressure against the show. (RELATED: Victoria’s Secret To Change Name, Phase Out ‘Angels’ To Reflect ‘Diverse Experiences’)
This is a win for inclusivity for inclusivity’s sake
But if brands start doing this only because they’ve received backlash then what happens when the ‘trends’ change again?
Do the CEOs of these companies value true inclusivity? Or do they just value money? https://t.co/ykmcUTLayQ
— FOLLOW @YITTY (@lizzo) March 5, 2023
In November 2018, former Chief Marketing Officer Ed Razek sparked anger when he said in an interview with Vogue that plus-sized and transgender models were not a good fit for the fashion show.
“Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special,” Razek said to Vogue.
Victoria’s Secret responded to the outrage by diversifying its lineup to include 19 models of color. Razek stepped down from his post in August of that year and future versions of the show were placed on hold.
“We must evolve and change to grow,” CEO Les Wexner said in 2019 “With that in mind, we have decided to re-think the traditional Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Going forward, we don’t believe network television is the right fit.”