For a long time, Victoria’s Secret appeared to be trapped beneath the cloud of controversy which hung overhead. Media scandals seemed to follow the brand like the plague; whether it was the former CEO’s apparent ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the cultural appropriation on the runway, or their chief marketing officer’s shocking inability to hold his tongue during interviews (yes, we are talking about Ed Razek’s terrible Vogue interview). However, one scandal–perhaps the most discussed of them all–persistently stuck itself to the lingerie empire: the conspicuous lack of inclusivity.

Whether it was the annual runway show, or the advertisements they produced, the concept of what the brand depicted to be “sexy” and “marketable” was evident. You may ask yourself, who can blame them? Sex sells. The problem lies in the fact that the brand clearly considered only one kind of woman to be worthy enough or sexy enough to sell their clothing. After years of backlash, Victoria’s Secret has finally made drastic changes and claims that it has “moved from promoting an exclusionary view of what is sexy, to celebrating women throughout every phase of their lives.”

Yes, you read that right. The company that casted their first plus size model in 2019 has undergone an entire rebranding. Victoria’s Secret now claims to “Welcome All Women And Their Experiences.” In all honesty, the brand truly has shown an impressive transformation in the past few years. Let’s take a step back and see where this began.

The aforementioned trainwreck of an interview with Ed Ryzek took place in November of 2018. In this interview, Ryzek came down hard on the brand Savage X Fenty (more on them later) and made several comments about transgender and plus size women that left a bad taste in many people’s mouths. When speaking to the interviewer, Ryzek used an extremely outdated and offensive word to describe transgender women; he also made it very clear that “the [runway] show is a fantasy” and although the brand had considered featuring plus size or transgender models before, they “market to who we sell to, and [they] don’t market to the whole world.” Not even a year later, in August of 2019, Ryzek stepped down from his position. This resignation seemed to be a turning point for the company, a catalyst of the many changes to quickly follow. In the same month, Victoria’s Secret hired their first ever transgender model, Valentina Sampaio. Two months later, Ali Tate Cutler was brought on as their first plus size model. November marked the biggest change that the brand had faced to that date: it was announced that the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was done. After 24 years, and a long fall from heaven, the angels had lost their wings.

Since then, Victoria’s Secret has made a number of changes. Among other alterations, the company began adding curvy mannequins in their stores, reworking their website and advertisements to include body diversity, and created a fresh board of directors composed of seven women and only one man. The lingerie giant is almost unrecognizable today. However, this sudden 180 degree pivot calls the motivations of the company into question. Did higher-ups suddenly grow a conscience, or was this all just a clever marketing ploy?

When addressing this question, it’s important to understand the company’s financial position when all of these decisions were made. An article from Fashionista, published in January of 2018, stated that, “Victoria's Secret comparable sales declined every single month last year.” They added that, “things were worse in the first half of the year, with declines between 10 and 14 percent most months.” Some accredit this fall from grace to the rise of brands that showed inclusivity from the start. For example, Aerie launched their “Aerie Real” campaign in 2014 where the brand did not photoshop or retouch the photos of their lingerie models. This move was met with immense praise by many media outlets. Since then, the brand has become increasingly inclusive, and in turn, increasingly representative of the real people looking to buy their products. Similar in inclusivity is Savage X Fenty. Rihanna’s lingerie brand launched in May of 2018 and displayed people of all colors, shapes, and sizes from the jump. While brands everywhere progressed and adapted to consumer demand, Victoria’s Secret remained stagnant, and profits dwindled as a result.

While Victoria’s Secret has taken extreme measures to separate themselves from the image they had, it remains unclear what their motivation is. Was this total overhaul done because it was the right thing to do, or was it just to pad the shareholders’ pockets? It’s certainly difficult to believe a company with such a lengthy history of playing into the male fantasy could suddenly care so much about the perceptions of women. Furthermore, can a brand that based its entire model around such a fantasy ever truly be rebranded? Only time will tell.

Written by Chloe Foster, Photography: Emma Trueba, Social Media: Sahithi Vemuri