Welcome back to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show! Tonight on the runway it’s all about outdated beauty standards and the bare minimum effort.
14-year-old me would be drooling over the screen as the fuchsia pink lights flooded the runway, setting the stage for Gigi Hadid to rise up into the spotlight to open the 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. My teenage self wanted nothing more than to absorb this unattainable image before my eyes because Victoria’s Secret dictated my standard of beauty and claimed to sell the key to becoming the most confident version of oneself. 6 years later, those feelings of desire and fascination were replaced by disappointment and discontent.
There is no denying that the overall consensus of the highly anticipated return of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was nothing short of underwhelming. What once was an immensely awaited manifestation of glamour and allure, has now seen its comeback miserably fail to meet viewer expectations. What exactly caused such a mediocre response after 6 years of absence and is there a secret to a successful revival? Exploring the desperation to align with the current trends, tokenism of plus-size models and raising questions with regard to the sincerity of their body positivity efforts leads us to wonder if Victoria’s Secret's attempt to evolve with their customers comes too late.
New Fashion Narratives
What’s the colour of the season? Who’s the new it-girl? What style of jeans are we wearing? Whether you partake in them or not, it goes without saying that trends dominate our lives. A brand that not only successfully markets their product within the current trend but is still able to relay authenticity to their own image remains competitive and relevant to its customers. This proved to be a challenge for the looks on the runway of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
Many are familiar with the current “clean girl” trend that has been dominating the internet in recent months. Despite being flawed in many aspects, such as miscrediting origins and appropriation (a conversation that none of you are ready to have), this minimalist aesthetic focuses on sleek hairstyles, neutral clothing tones and light makeup, aiming to curate an “I woke up like this” effect. The 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show made a clear attempt to align with the aforementioned elements by sending Candice Swanepoel out in a slicked-back ponytail and having a relatively neutral colour palette compared to their previous shows.
While these attempts appear to be in accordance with the features that make up the “clean girl” trend, Victoria’s Secret’s efforts felt forced and unaligned with the brand’s image. The entire allure behind the fashion show used to be the angelic aura of the models who were almost non-human because of how perfect they appeared on the runway. Now the goal was to showcase effortless authenticity but instead, Victoria’s Secret’s identity remains deeply anchored in a legacy that promotes effortless perfection that was, and still is, unattainable.
Examining Victoria’s Secret competitor, SKIMS, can offer an explanation of how the brand has been arguably more successful at capturing the essence of the “clean girl” trend and therefore, demonstrating a deeper understanding of consumer preferences. SKIMS was founded in 2019 by American TV personality Kim Kardashian and Swedish entrepreneur Jens Grede. By no means is Kim Kardashian an attainable image of female beauty but her brand appears to feel genuinely relatable and relevant to its customers. SKIMS produces functional and inclusive designs that are in line with the current demand for authenticity. Consisting of everyday basics in neutral tones and an emphasis on comfort, the brand promotes the idea of its pieces being an essential part of the daily routine as opposed to something that feels too extravagant to be worn daily. Lastly, SKIMS marketing campaigns feature models with minimal hair and makeup that capture the “clean girl” aesthetic.
Minimalist styles such as the “clean girl” being the current trends mark a pivotal shift in consumer priorities. It’s a response to years of high-impact marketing and hyper-curated standards, embracing subtlety and a more approachable appearance. Unfortunately, Victoria’s Secret remains associated with hyper-glamour and an extremely idealised image of femininity. This established image feels conflicting with the current trends focused on minimalism. By attempting to have the best of both worlds, Victoria’s Secret risks completely alienating their customers who associate the brand with fantasy-like glamour while failing to fully align with today’s fashion values of authenticity and diversity.
Blatant Tokenism
It goes without saying that the fashion industry is brutal, with a relentless drive toward perfection that can be particularly unforgiving for those who do not seamlessly align with a brand’s image. Differences are only highlighted when it is deemed popular to do so. In the case of Victoria’s Secret, this means finally featuring a distinguished, yet limited, mix of curvy or plus-size models amongst a mass of thigh gaps and six-packs after nearly 50 years in the industry. However, seeing iconic faces such as Ashley Graham grace the runway wasn’t exactly the empowering revelation that we had hoped for. Rather, all it did was emphasise how outdated Victoria’s Secret’s beauty standard is in this supposedly forward-thinking era of fashion.
As the first plus-size model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2016 and Vogue magazine in 2017, Graham has been immensely successful in pioneering for curvy individuals to be taken seriously in the high-fashion industry. Without undermining Graham’s success, the sincerity of Victoria’s Secret’s efforts of body inclusivity remain questionable. It is important to mention that Graham herself was hesitant to participate in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show due to their vision of beauty appearing narrow, but was convinced that the brand’s inclusion of curve models “wasn’t just a symbol.” Why did it still come across as a tick in the box?
For starters, the sheer number of plus size models was incomparable to the amount of models size 0-8. The heavily skewed balance highlights the ongoing issue of brands like Victoria’s Secret making a gesture towards body inclusivity but the real numbers suggest that the representation is still limited. Moreover, exclusively featuring highly prominent plus size models paints an unethical picture of the brand from two perspectives. Firstly, by focusing on a few famous curvy models, such as Graham and Paloma Elsesser, they are showcased as an exception rather than a true integration of a broader range of body types that feature in the show. By no means is the success of curvy models, and all other faces of the show, being discredited but it's more so the sincerity of the brand itself. Secondly, by leveraging these celebrities, Victoria’s Secret appears to be addressing diversity when, in reality, the representation remains slim (no pun intended).
Victoria’s Secret’s image remains an allure to perfection. However, perfection does not mean being a size 0 and hasn’t meant that for quite some time. The delivery of bare-minimum body diversity after a history of fatphobic accusations and demand from its audience suggests a lack of sincerity. In addition, it is worth mentioning the outfits that the limited selection of curvy models wore compared to the other models. Graham strutted out in a leotard that covered her midriff while Elsesser appeared once in a slip dress and a second time with a bow that, once again, covered her stomach. By no means was the validity of the models dependent on the amount of skin they were showing but it creates the illusion that Victoria’s Secret did not want to display their entirety but rather just their name, contributing to the tokenism of their feature in the show.
Winning Back the Audience
Despite having observed vast areas for improvement, there were two key aspects of the show that suggest a genuine transformation in a positive direction. Firstly, the runway collection was made available to purchase online in real-time as the show premiered. This had not been an option in previous years of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and is a delayed response to Victoria’s Secret’s customers long demanding more from the illusion the brand was projecting. The audience is not only watching the show but is able to directly engage with it, making it more accessible by bridging the gap between viewer and consumer. This decision also allows Victoria’s Secret to leverage consumer trends motivated by digital shopping platforms, where shoppers can access the exact pieces they see on their screens, rather than simply showcasing unattainable fashion narratives and having no way to actually obtain them.
The second glimpse of redemption - however nuanced it may be - was the shift from the idea of a woman to the significance of a woman. Specific decisions made by the executive team were devoted to appreciating femininity rather than simply portraying it. Janie Schaffer, Chief Design Officer, made a clear statement in regard to the return of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, “We’ve transformed so much as a business. We felt we wanted to celebrate our product, which is looking amazing. We wanted to just celebrate women.” Her words are reflected in the show’s exuberance of female performers, including Tyla, Lisa from Blackpink and Cher, who have taken over from music performances previously dominated by male singers. Having female singers alongside the models as the driving force of the show presents a more refined depth into what it means to be a woman. The wings worn by the models and the songs sung by the artists carry a significant hope of women being visible in the purpose of the brand as opposed to just a construct. Combined with Schaffer’s statement raises the question of whether this is a genuine effort at a rebrand or simply an attempt to regain relevance with the same intensity that was once an annual anticipation.
Let’s Move On
There’s a part of me that is sorry for how underwhelming the 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was. Many of us grew up with Victoria’s Secret as the standard for female beauty and having it miserably fail to meet most viewers’ expectations can be attributed to many aspects. Perhaps it’s the inability to conform to current trends due to the sharp contrast between today’s minimal aesthetic and the hyper-glamorous image of Victoria’s Secret. Possibly it’s the consistent lack of genuine body inclusivity in an age where beauty is no longer associated with clothing size. Had Victoria’s Secret implemented even below-average body diversity back when the brand started to see a decline in it’s popularity, it would have been welcomed and praised. Or maybe it's the bittersweet fact that nothing lasts forever, especially a brand’s heightened popularity. I used to plan the months leading up to, as well as the whole day of the show. 6 years later, I almost forgot to turn it on. Victoria’s Secret’s audience, who once idolised the commercial fantasy, seems less enchanted by the show’s return. The question remains: Victoria’s Secret is back, but do we even want it?
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