Victoria’s Secret, the lingerie brand known for its scantily-clad supermodel ‘Angels’, is undergoing a rebranding. But don’t be fooled: this has little to do with female empowerment.
The firm announced last week that its catwalkers will be replaced by seven new ‘accomplished women who share a common passion to drive positive change.’ The ‘trail-blazing partners’ include US soccer player Megan Rapinoe, Chinese-American freestyler skier Eileen Gu, plus-size model Paloma Elsesser, and Valentina Sampaio, the first transgender model to feature in Sports Illustrated.
Greater diversity in female representation is something to celebrate, but let us be clear: this is a marketing tactic by a flagging brand to regain some semblance of cultural relevance (and revenue).
Models with Barbie bodies, bejewelled bras and bedazzled angel wings would strut down the runway
John Ringo famously coined the phrase, ‘get woke, go broke’, but with Victoria’s Secret, it is more a case of ‘get broke, go woke’: the company has, after all, been struggling for years.
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