What comes to mind when you think of Victoria’s Secret? You may think of super attractive, extremely thin models who sell an idea of sexiness to women all over the world. Victoria’s Secret’s new rebranding is telling consumers to erase their previous thoughts of their company because they’ve changed big time.
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On June 28, 2022, Victoria’s Secret posted a video on Twitter, captioned ” Think you know us? Meet the new Victoria’s Secret. Learn More: bit.ly/3bxiq9Z. ” The video featured 10 diverse females with a variety of ethnicities, body types, and defining features. Phrases such as ‘we see you’ and ‘we promise to advocate for you’ are emphasized. For decades Victoria’s Secret business model revolved around the idea of selling a fantasy. Intricate and elaborate lingerie lined the shelves of the stores. Annually, the company would put on a fashion show, highlighting the fantasy vision, with models who defined sexy in the eyes of the company: extremely thin, predominantly white, young, and essentially “flawless.”
The ‘VSNow’ campaign focuses on simplicity in their loungewear and undergarments. The primary dimension of the campaign highlights the natural beauty of women, and less on the lingerie and undergarments themselves. This stirred up backlash from consumers and fans of the brand, considering that they removed the “fantasy” of the lingerie itself. Women of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities can be feel sexy in lingerie, not just a simple bra and panty.
When looking from the perspective of the PR team who worked with Victoria’s Secret on this rebranding, I find that it was a smart move given the shift in mainstream media that women of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities are beautiful in their own way, which we have seen through diversity and inclusion in models. Sexy is more than physical appearance; its confidence and self worth. This raises the question of whether Victoria’s Secret was trying to define a female’s self-worth by how thin or stereotypically beautiful she is, prior. I feel that this campaign was necessary for the company. As a business model, it would be wise to slowly introduce the lingerie and fantasy aspect back into the company, but instead of marketing it as a fantasy to men, a women is their own fantasy now. The idea is for women to look in the mirror wearing a Victoria’s Secret lingerie set and feel gorgeous inside and out. Overall I commend Victoria’s Secret for choosing to re-brand and become more inclusive for women. It’s a big step that a lot of consumers weren’t expecting.
Can you successfully rebrand AND keep the VS Fashion/Angel show as is? Curious.