The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show made its long-awaited comeback on Oct. 15, five years after it was originally canceled. With musical performances by Cher, Tyla, and Lisa of Blackpink, the show was a memorable one. It featured the return of plenty of legendary VS models: Gigi and Bella Hadid, Adriana Lima, Irina Shayk, Alessandra Ambrosio, Jasmine Tookes, and Candice Swanepoel. Plus, icons like Tyra Banks and Kate Moss walked the runway.
The show made many callbacks to previous Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows, but it also made some important adjustments and updates. Back in 2018, Ed Razek, then-chief marketing officer of L Brands, made controversial comments about the show’s lack of diversity — responding to pushes for more plus-size models and transgender models.
Razek said he didn’t feel a need to expand sizes or include more trans representation. “We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes [in 2000]. No one had any interest in it, still don’t,” he told Vogue at the time. “It’s like, why doesn’t your show do this? Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should … Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special.”
Razek later walked back on his comments, calling them “insensitive,” and stepped down from his position in 2019.
When Victoria’s Secret announced the show would be coming back in 2024, the brand made it clear they had a new mindset. “We’ve read the comments and heard you,” the brand wrote on Instagram in May. “The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is BACK and will reflect who we are today, plus everything you know and love — the glamour, runway, wings, musical entertainment, and more! Stay tuned…it only gets more iconic from here.”
But did they follow through on that promise? Some people who watched the festivities aren’t sure if “more iconic” is the best way to describe the show, even if parts of it were definitely new and improved.
Fans of the show were excited to see more diversity, including transgender models, plus-size models, and models over the age of 50.
