With headlines suggesting all kinds of reasons for the globally renowned Victoria's Secret show being cancelled I want to get behind the real reasons and opinions of this hugely influential decision.
The "remarkable marketing achievement" described by Stuart Burgdoerfer, L Brand's chief financial officer, was considered the pinnacle for many supermodel's careers such as Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum and Miranda Kerr.
Perhaps due to a globally changing opinion and attitude on body diversity, this year Victoria's Secret and L Brands reported a net loss of £195.1m.
Over the last year "the sexiest bras, pants, lingerie, sportswear and beauty" brand, has been victimised to very strongly averse opinions due to the then-chief marketing officer Ed Razek stating "transsexual" models were not allowed to be part of the event. He has since apologised for this comment, however the impact of this on the public perception of the brand has lived on long past Razek's employment.
Other reports suggest it could be the brand's 'unholy alliance' between Leslie Wexner and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein that caused the end of the annual publicity stunt.
"The New York Times reports that Epstein had an 'unusually strong hold' over Wexner, pretended to work as a talent scout and tried to abuse models. Wexner should have known about this, the article claims, but no action was taken."
"Epstein's 'madam' Ghislaine Maxwell is accused of scouring Central Park for Victoria's Secret Models... And a witness claimed that when Epstein was asked about a stream of young girls in school uniform coming and going from the mansion, he claimed they were auditioning for Victoria's Secret."
Having had such bad press on the brand for so long, it's no wonder both the ratings and sales fell, I personally am disgusted with how such a widely known global brand could advocate this behaviour until it was exposed. Having said that I don't think one or two peoples actions in a company should be responsible for the cancellation of such an iconic show.
I could easily go on and on all day about who said what and what the suspected reasons for the show ending are, but what I can't decide is if it was 23 years of objectifying women and lack of diversity, or 23 years of celebrating women and female empowerment. I know, since having discussions with people since the announcement of the cancellation, that opinions really do differ on the topic. Some say that it was similar to the Met Gala,
"All year you're thinking what's the theme, who's gonna walk etc. It was more than just a show, it was a global event. I'm all for diversity and in today's society I think if brands want to survive, they have to think about how opinions on this topic are developing. But having said that, for the Victoria Secret Show it almost didn't matter. Yes they were all in perfect shape and had to diet ridiculously for the show, but they were often celebrities, so and it was names rather than physiques, and the clothing or lack there of, was Victoria's Secret identity. If they change with the times they will lose who they are!"
- Chloe Bailey, 20
"I'm sorry but no one would ever wear the clothes in the show anyway. I think it's so much more about the spectacle. It's all for press and engagement of the brand. Just because the TV ratings are going down doesn't mean people aren't interested. Nowadays you can watch it at anytime on almost any platform of social media. The ratings mean nothing today. I'm sad to see the show end."
- Megan Rowswell, 19
St.
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