Victoria's Secret Fashion Show has officially been cancelled after 24 years
22 November 2019, 15:20
This comes after the brand refused to include transgender and plus-size women in their shows.
Victoria's Secret has confirmed the cancellation of its annual fashion show. The lingerie brand has struggled to deal with mounting pressure to be more inclusive, while Victoria's Secret have also been hit with poor ratings in recent years and declining sales.
There had been speculation for months that the infamous runway show would be coming to an end after Victoria's Secret Angel Shanina Shaik said it would not be going ahead this year. And then on Thursday (21 November), L Brands (Victoria's Secret's parent company) announced the news and said that it was important to "evolve" its marketing strategy. "We're figuring out how to advance the positioning of the brand and best communicate that to customers," L Brands chief financial officer Stuart Burgdoerfer told investors on an earnings call.
READ MORE: Model Shanina Shaik says the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show has been cancelled
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which aired on ABC, launched in 1995 and has cemented the careers of models like Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum. It was once a huge event with performances from the music industry's biggest stars like Rihanna, Ariana Grande and Halsey.
However, last year the VS Fashion Show was hit with its lowest ratings yet. Not that its at all surprising when you consider that the show has failed to be inclusive of size or gender, upholding archaic beauty standards, claiming that transgender and plus-size people do not fit into the show's "fantasy" element.
Somehow other brands like Savage x Fenty are inclusive and still managing to see that "fantasy". Rihanna's line even had their own runway show this year, which can be viewed on Amazon. In an interview with Dazed earlier this week, Bella Hadid (a former angel) even admitted that the Fenty show was the "first time on a runway that I felt really sexy".
As well as a shift in the way we view the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the brand has experienced a continued decline in sales. According to Fortune, VS sales dropped seven per cent in the latest quarter compared to a two per cent dip during the same period in 2018. It has also been announced that up to 53 Victoria Secret stores across the US may close in 2019.
READ MORE: People are furious at Victoria's Secret for refusing to use plus size or transgender models