Have the Angels fallen from grace?
The Victoria’s Secret show is stuck in a rut
It’s that time of year again, when the crème de la crème of the world’s models pop on their giant, fluffy wings and strut down the Victoria’s Secret catwalk for their annual show. It’s an iconic event in the fashion calendar, but scrolling through the shots of Kendall Jenner and the Hadids etc this year, we found ourselves yawning.
The parade of lithesome twentysomethings in itty-bitty lingerie seems a long way off a celebration of women and sexuality, and more akin to an auction of thoroughbred racehorses. The show has come under fire for presenting a narrow idea of beauty and failing to show diversity. Fans of the brand expressed their disappointment on Twitter, commenting, “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has got boring for me. It’s the same models every year and there’s no variety. They should get models of different body shapes.” Others called the show “outdated”, and one even said, “Every single model is the same. When will they realise that regular people aren’t 5ft 9in with a 24-inch waist?”
In stark contrast, Rihanna’s Fenty show at New York Fashion Week in September was a celebration of diversity and inclusivity – and had fans going wild. The singer said she wanted her audience to “revel in the energy of all the different body types, and all the different women in different stages of their womanhood”.
And with Victoria’s Secret’s profits slowly declining, it seems there is a demand for more body-positive shows to be splashed all over our social media. As one fan put it, “VS is cancelled.” n