As Victoria’s Secret bids farewell to its angels era, the famous brand welcomed new faces including Priyanka Chopra and Megan Rapinoe.
According to The New York Times, the Victoria’s Secret Angels is over as the brand revamps its marketing model. The lingerie brand hasn’t showcased its angels on the runway since its highly anticipated fashion show was cancelled in 2019. Instead, it launched two new initiatives on Wednesday, June 16, namely The VS Collective and The Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers.
The VS Collective, based on the company’s press release, is “an ever-growing group of accomplished women who share a common passion to drive positive change. Through social, cultural and business relationships, The VS Collective will work to create new associate programs, revolutionary product collections, compelling and inspiring content, and rally support for causes vital to women.”
The inaugural members of this initiative are composed of famous celebs like Chopra, Rapinoe, Adut Akech, Paloma Elsesser, Valentina Sampaio, models, athletes, artists and activists from all parts of the world.
CEO Martin Waters said in a statement, “At Victoria’s Secret, we are on an incredible journey to become the world’s leading advocate for women. It’s a shift that we embrace from our core. These new initiatives are just the beginning. We are energized and humbled by the work ahead of us.”
Meanwhile, The New York Times claimed, “It is a stark change for a brand that not only long sold lingerie in the guise of male fantasy, but has also been scrutinized heavily in recent years for its owner’s relationship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and revelations about a misogynistic corporate culture that trafficked in sexism, sizeism and ageism.”
The outlet alleged in 2020 that Victoria’s Secret has a history of “misogyny, bullying and harassment, according to interviews with more than 30 current and former executives, employees, contractors and models, as well as court filings and other documents.”
In November 2019, Start Burgdoerfer, CFO of L Brands, announced that the televised fashion show will end and that the Angels should hand up their wings. He explained, “We’ll be communicating to customers, but nothing that I would say is similar in magnitude to the fashion show. You can be sure we’ll be communicating with customers through lots of vehicles including social media and various, more current platforms, if you will.”
