Victoria’s Secret’s Fall From Power: Today's Need for Diversity

When the weather starts to get colder, Starbucks debuts their new holiday cups and Christmas music seems to be played in every store, it can only mean one thing … it’s time for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show!

Instagram is typically flooded with beautiful models wearing next to nothing; however, the month of November highlights a very specific Instagram model. Yes, it is the perfectly curled hair, airbrushed makeup and pink silk robes of the Victoria Secret angels that clog up our Instagram feeds every holiday season.

This year was no exception as old favorites such as Kendall Jenner, Alessandra Ambrosio and the Hadid sisters flaunted their perfectly sculpted bodies in opulent underwear down New York City runways. However, this year Victoria’s Secret gained an exceptional, and overdue, amount of scrutiny due to their blatant lack of diversity.

In the days leading up to this year’s show, Vogue published an interview with Victoria’s Secret’s Chief Marketing Officer, Ed Razek. In this interview Razek made offensive comments on the company's lack of inclusion of transgender and plus-sized models. Razek labeled the show as a “fantasy”, which shouldn’t have to include transgender or plus-sized models.

By Razek referring to the show as a “fantasy,” he is implying that society should idolize the tall, white model as the universal fantasy. Comments such as these are continuing the dangerous and fictitious narrative that there is only one desirable beauty standard. Victoria’s Secret’s current trajectory of advertisement and rhetoric is leading them down a path of promoting unhealthy body images for the young girls who idolize the models labeled “angels.”

Understandably, there was intense outrage over Razek’s ignorant comments and many attempts at resolutions from the company, including firing their CEO Jan Singer. Victoria’s Secret is no stranger to scandal, as made evident through their blatant and vacuous attempts to advertise the racial diversity present in their more recent shows. Unfortunately for Victoria’s Secret, debuting your first ever Filipino model in 2018 does not satisfy the level of diversity expected in today’s day and age.

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Victoria’s Secret may have monopolized the lingerie business for a long time; however, with rival brands such as Savage X Fenty, Aerie and Third Love contributing to the narrative  of body positivity by advertising their collections of real-sized women, Victoria’s Secret is going to have to rethink their apathetic approach to diversity.