Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Returns

Some of modeling’s biggest names, from Tyra Banks to the Hadid sisters, donned signature wings – this year, faux feather versions were PETA-approved – again on Tuesday when the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show returned to the runway in New York City, USA after a six-year hiatus.

 

The lingerie company’s promotional event – featuring their star roster of models under contract, known as “angels” – was largely considered primetime viewing during its heyday from 1995 to 2018. But it got canceled in 2019, after its 2018 edition drew low ratings as well as criticism that it was sexist, outdated and lacked diversity. During that time, the fashion industry was grappling with a backlash amid the body positivity, transgender rights and #MeToo movements. 

 

Cut to May 2024, when Victoria’s Secret announced the show would make its return in the fall. The company claimed their values have shifted and promised the updated event would “reflect who we are today, plus everything you know and love – the glamour, runway, wings, musical entertainment, and more!” 

 

The 45-minute show, which was streamed on Amazon’s Prime Video and on the Victoria's Secret YouTube, TikTok and Instagram accounts, touted its first-ever all-women musical talent lineup. It featured performances by Blackpink alum Lisa, South African singer Tyla and pop legend Cher, who closed out the show with “Strong Enough” and “Believe”. 

 

And it brought back many of its best-known angels, including Gigi and Bella Hadid, Jasmine Tookes, Behati Prinsloo, Barbara Palvin, Taylor Hill, Candice Swanepoel and Adriana Lima, who retired from the brand in 2018. Claudia Schiffer participated for the second time, after last walking in the 1997 show. 

 

The show was also a debut for a number of iconic models who hadn’t walked the Victoria’s Secret runway before, including supermodel Kate Moss, who turned 50 in January, and former first lady of France, 56-year-old Carla Bruni. It was also the first Victoria’s Secret show for plus-size model and body activist Ashley Graham, who as a woman in her late 30s and mother of three kids, represented "curvy" women. The final model to take the stage was former angel Tyra Banks, Victoria’s Secret's first Black contract and cover model who walked in nine of its shows before she retired in 2005 to focus on television. 

 

The past several years have been tough financially for Victoria’s Secret as competition in the mid-range lingerie market has grown and the brand name lost some of its luster among younger shoppers – but let's see if Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2024 can prompt a revival in the company's fortunes.

 

Critics were quick to pan what was once the sexiest and most outrageous night in fashion, branding it "boring" and lacklustre, even accusing it of going woke. The occasion marked the first walk down the Victoria’s Secret runway for Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio, who had been the first transgender model to represent the brand in 2019. Fellow transgender model Alex Consani also took to the catwalk as the lingerie brand expanded on its efforts to be more inclusive. 

 

Malaysian badminton's Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan got off to a winning start at the Denmark Open yesterday. 

 

The world No. 7 women's pair overcame India's Treesa Jolly-Pullela Gayathri 19-21, 21-17, 21-15 in the opening hurdle in Odense. 

 

Pearly-Thinaah will play Lee Yu-lim-Shin Seung-chan of South Korea next in the last 16 today.

Angels Banished from Victoria's Secret

The American lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret, known for peddling all manner of lacy, strappy underwear, is doing away with its Angels models in a radical revamp of its commercial approach.

The Angels – a corps of catwalkers who would strut in heavy wings and sky-high stilettos during Victoria’s Secret’s televised fashion shows – will be replaced by seven new figureheads described as “accomplished women who share a common passion to drive positive change”. 

These women, comprising The VS Collective, lean prominently towards sporty and activist types in a fundamental re-angling for the company. 

They are the champion US soccer player, women’s pay equity advocate and prominent anti-Donald Trump voice Megan Rapinoe, actor-entrepreneur Priyanka Chopra Jonas, LGBTQ+ activist and model Valentina Sampaio, model and South Sudanese refugee Adut Akech, British journalist and equality advocate Amanda de Cadenet, champion Chinese-American freestyle skier Eileen Gu, as well as model and body-positivity advocate Paloma Elsesser. 

Sigh, I’m gonna miss the eye candy that are the Angels!

This switch in tactic is just a marketing plug. They’re changing direction because according to the New York Times, their stake in the US women’s undergarment market had dipped to 21% in 2020, down from 32% in 2015.

Victoria's Secret Cancels Fashion Show

Goodbye, angel wings and bedazzled undergarments. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is officially cancelled for 2019.

The lingerie showcase has long been a high-profile branding vehicle, a glossy commercial-meets-fashion fantasy in which supermodels strut down the runway to pop star musical accompaniment. It’s epic eye candy! 

The pop culture staple has been viewed as a stroke of marketing genius – a commercial for the Victoria’s Secret brand packaged as a prime-time special. And it drew millions of viewers, even if some people have decried the show and criticized it for objectifying women.

Alas, these last few years, the annual spectacle of glitter, cleavage and pop music has lost its luster and ratings have plunged. 

In December 2018, the Done+Dusted-produced Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on ABC brought in 3.3 million viewers. That’s down from 6.7 million in 2016 and 9.7 million in 2013. 

At the time, Leslie Wexner, the chief executive of Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands, said in a memo to employees that the company had been “taking a fresh look at every aspect of our business,” while noting that the brand “must evolve and change to grow”. 

Don’t give up on the show just yet – stay hopeful. The company didn’t say the event has been cancelled for good – only this year!

The Fantasy Bra

Model Jasmine Tookes poses with the 2016 Bright Night Fantasy Bra at Victoria's Secret 5th Avenue store on October 26, 2016 in New York City

Jasmine Tookes modelling the $3 million Bright Night Fantasy Bra. Photo: Victoria’s Secret

Instagram/jastookes

Each year, the Victoria’s Secret angels supposedly descend from heaven in honor of the lingerie giant’s fashion extravaganza. It is not only the brand’s leggy ambassadors who form a key component of the annual televised runway celebrations – the show also highlights another star in its own right: the Fantasy Bra.

 

The flamboyant bra that is synonymous with seven figures at least, was introduced by Victoria’s Secret in 1996. Twenty years later the bejeweled Fantasy Bra is still going strong, decked out in dazzling gems.

 

This year’s Fantasy Bra, named the “Bright Night Fantasy Bra” – the 700-hour creation of American jewelry designer Eddie Borgo – is made of 9,000 precious stones and weighing 450 carats of 18K gold. BTW, it carries a $3 million price tag. 

 

Wearing the fantasy bra is considered an honour and this year, 25-year-old model Jasmine Tookes – who joined the Victoria's Secret roster of Angels in 2015 – will be strutting the emerald and diamond encrusted piece down the catwalk in Paris, France this month itself. 

 

I want, I want, I want!!!

 

Last evening, I was at the KDU University College campus in PJ's Damansara Jaya. Originally, I was only intending to sit back and relax and enjoy the meeting – given that the speech slots and/or meeting roles were full.

 

But lo and behold, I had a speaking opportunity just before the meeting commenced. Not one to turn down this lucky chance, I took it and delivered a CC #2 speech titled "The Indian Virus" – my CC round #39. Thank you, Henry Fu!

 

 

Underwear as Outerwear

Victoria’s Secret are attracting some unhappiness from some quarters because of their ad campaign that shows women wearing their lingerie out on the streets as clothing.

 

The campaign, “The New (Un) Dress Code: Take it outside in edgy satin & lace” depicts women pairing lace bodysuits with a pair of jeans, mini bustiers with an open jacket and skirt and other lingerie as complements to everyday outfits.

 

The brand posted some of the ads on Facebook and immediately began to draw comments like this relatively tame one: “Bring back real clothes if you want your product to be seen in public”.

Ads for Victoria’s Secret “The New (Un) Dress Code” campaign.

However, Victoria’s Secret may be on to something. It is not exactly a new phenomenon – as already, young women have been mixing and matching lingerie pieces with their everyday clothes.

 

Underwear as outwear is a bona fide fashion trend as documented by American-based fashion, style and beauty website Refinery29 back in 2014.

 

Anyway, as far as I am concerned, fashion is a personal statement.

The Red Devils managed to hold Jurgen Klopp's team to a goalless draw.

 

In fact, the Monday match was boring, dull and subdued.

 

It was a Manchester United-Liverpool rivalry that wasn’t. It failed to excite. It didn’t deliver. It was a blardy waste of time.

 

On October 17, 2016, I was at Rumah Puspanita in Jalan Hose, KL for the NAWEM Toastmasters meeting.

 

I was given a speaking slot and I presented my CC #5 titled “A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush”. A good speech as always but as my Evaluator, Rhoda Omar put it, I could let my body speak even more!