Top models known throughout the world, parades that marked the fashion calendar, unrepeatable staging, millionaire budgets... The angels of Victoria's Secret represented an unattainable canon of beauty, an outdated model of femininity far removed from the vindication of women, which ended up sinking the firm after the cancellation of its show in 2019. Now, a documentary analyzes the history of the firm, its spectacular parades and how social change caused the beginning of the end of an era.
There was a time when the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was a milestone in the annual calendar. Men and women were waiting for the date because, somehow, that had become the aspirational model for everyone: those impossible bodies, tanned, shiny, toned but not too muscular, with perky but not too large breasts, and perfectly rounded buttocks. and without a trace of cellulite or stretch marks. Unreal.
But something changed. From being perceived as the ideal of beauty, it began to filter into the population, parallel to the rise of feminist vindication, that feeling that it was an imposition, that placing the model of beauty in such an unattainable canon meant a a form of refined slavery that not only created a feeling of oppressive injustice, but also triggered eating disorders. Not to mention the rejection of diversity in all areas and the constant sexualization of women. The body positive movement was beginning, and Victoria's Secret no longer fit into a world in which the value of women was far beyond their beauty, and precisely because of this, this absolute boom for 30 years and this catastrophic fall in just 10, will talk about the documentary that Hulu is already developing: The rise and fall of Victoria's Secret.
The problem came from the root, from the very conception of the firm: Victoria's Secret was founded in 1967 by a man, Roy Raymond, with the idea of creating a space where men could buy lingerie for their wives and lovers without feeling intimidated. In fact, the company took its first steps as a mail order lingerie sale. That culture of "from men and for men" is still implanted in the company, with a majority of male leaders, no matter how much later makeup they have used to camouflage it. During the 70s, 80s and 90s the company grew based on the stereotypes that we already know, and that established a way of understanding imposing and unattainable feminine beauty, restricted to a few beings so incredible that they were called "angels".
Thus, in 1995 the first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was organized, which was a great success both in terms of concept and audience, reception and subsequent sales of lingerie. The following year some of the biggest names in fashion would parade, such as Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell or Helena Christensen, the only veteran who is still among their ranks. The Fantasy Bra, called that first time "Million Dollar Miracle Bra", was worn by Claudia Schiffer. Little by little, names such as Laetitia Casta, Heidi Klum, the Spanish Esther Cañadas and Eugenia Silva, Carmen Kass or Eva Herzigova were incorporated.
The years continued to pass with increasingly spectacular models. In the 2000s, the consecrated women arrived and what became known as The Brazilian Pack was formed, a group of Brazilian models (although none were black) led by Gisele Bündchen, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Izabel Goulart. In the second decade of the 2000s, with the incorporation of social networks into our daily lives, the omnipresence of angels began to be total: we knew what they did, who they went out with, what they ate (and more importantly: what they did not eat), how they trained... practices harmful to health such as chewing ice, swallowing cotton balls or eating liquids were even revealed the week before the parade.
2018: the year of the debacle
"Society has changed. Victoria's Secret has not", stated The Business of Fashion to shed light on the unstoppable drop in sales. That year the company lost 50% of its value, the price of its garments reached historic lows and 20 stores were closed. Its competitors were betting on plus-size models in their campaigns or including transgender women, but Victoria's Secret steadfastly refused to show any hint of diversity. "If you're asking me if we've considered including trans or plus-size models in the show, I'll tell you yes, we've considered it and ruled it out. We tried to do a plus-size TV special in the 2000s, but nobody I had no interest in it, not yet." These controversial words by Ed Razek, director of marketing for Victoria's Secret, clearly marked the line that the company was going to follow.
That year the parade obtained the worst audience in history: barely 3.3 million viewers followed the show, when in previous years the figure used to exceed ten. In the midst of the #MeToo wave, with demonstrations against femicides and sexual assaults, with the awakening of female consciousness and inclusivity as a banner... the show had simply ceased to make sense. In 2019, Victoria's Secret's deteriorating image was compounded by accusations of misogyny and harassment by some of its workers. Marketing director Ed Razek left his post shortly after CEO Jan Singer did the same for not carry forward the proposal of an inclusive lingerie. And, finally, the news was confirmed: the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was cancelled.
To all this it should be added that the big tops had been gradually abandoning the ship. Those who had been recognized angels of the brand, such as Adriana Lima, who confessed to being "tired of impositions", began to openly show their disgust with the concept of these shows: "Most women probably wake up every morning trying to fit into a stereotype that society, the media and fashion impose. It is not physically or mentally healthy. So I decided to make that change, I will not take off my clothes again for an empty cause, "he commented then. Gisele Bündchen assured that the reason that made her leave the catwalk in 2007 was to feel increasingly uncomfortable with the objectification of her body and with the fact of showing so much and continuing to parade in underwear.
Although things have been changing since then (we explain it in this gallery on the evolution of Victoria's Secret models), all the changes seem more focused on recovering sales through a facelift that arrives late and wrong.Inclusion of 55-kilo curvy models, absence of people of other races, hiring of normative models, a single trans person among their ranks, numerous cases of disrespect and cultural appropriation... The "makeup" is not convincing and the firm cannot come back neither at the level of numbers nor, fortunately, as dictator of the ideal of feminine beauty.
DOCUMENTARY: PRODUCTION AND RELEASE DATE
The documentary The Rise and Fall Of Victoria's Secret, which is currently being prepared for the US platform Hulu, will deal with all this and much more. It will consist of three episodes and will be directed by Peter Berg and Matt Tyrnauer, and its premiere will take place in 2021. These directors have carried out other great works such as Fyre Fraud, Minding The Gap, Ask Dr. Ruth, I Am Greta and Hillary.
"The documentary will shed light on the ins and outs of a once powerful global fashion sector, putting into context the negatives and positives of a rapidly transforming industry." In addition, it will review the history of the lingerie franchise, from its beginning as a small mail order brand to its rise to a global emporium implicated in scandals such as the relationship between its owner, Les Wexner, and Jeffrey Epstein. We will have to wait to see it to finish judging it.
