After bringing together some of its most famous angels for The Icon, the campaign for its new collection, Victoria’s Secret is returning to the fashion stage with the Victoria’s Secret World Tour, an updated and more “woke” revival of its historic Secret shows. Unveiled at the end of September, the new event is more of a documentary than a simple fashion show and aims to celebrate female beauty in all its nuances, continuing the rebranding begun in recent years. In 2018, the American company announced the cancellation of its annual show after its former boss Ed Razek was accused of misogyny and criticised for not being inclusive and glorifying an unrealistic ideal of beauty. Since then, Victoria’s Secret has emulated other competitors who place more emphasis on a contemporary sensibility, replacing its Angels with VS Collective, expanding its size range and developing product types it had previously neglected because they did not meet its definition of sexy standards, such as nursing and post-mastectomy bras. After four years, the lingerie brand is ready to return to the catwalk. Here we find out more about the new event.
Forget the same old models of the past, the new show is all about inclusivity and diversity. The company promises not to repeat the same mistakes, miss the cultural changes and continue to perpetuate an unattainable beauty stereotype that has sexism and fat shaming in it. This is what Raul Martinez, EVP (Employer Value Proposition) Manager and Creative Director of Victoria’s Secret promises: “We have evolved and moved forward, but without losing anything. We’re looking at both our new storytelling, which is our mission, which is to celebrate the voices of all women, and pure entertainment, to continue to offer something iconic to the public.”
The Victoria’s Secret World Tour will be a travel narrative of sorts, bringing together a range of talent with the aim of celebrating women’s ability to create beauty and not just be pretty characters on display for evil glances. To do this, the brand has focused on four young female designers from different backgrounds: Supriya Lele from London, Bubu Ogisi from Lagos, Jenny Faxfrom Tokyo and Melissa Valdes from Bogota. Each of them will design their own underwear collection, which will be presented in the docu-show along with a range of garments designed by the Victoria’s Secret team.
The singer will not only perform at the World Tour and perhaps perform a few songs from her new album, but will also showcase a number of garments she designed with the Victoria’s Secret team and creative director Brett Alan Nelson especially for the event, such as a flesh-coloured latex dress. Doja Cat is looking forward to the collaboration, saying, “Victoria’s Secret has been such a fun, groundbreaking brand for me since the beginning, and I love that I can say that again today. Being part of a global phenomenon like the tour is an incredible experience.” And on the looks, she added: “Because the Tour celebrates the unique strength and talent of creatives, we wanted to convey that message with this look. I felt so strong and confident when I wore these pieces”.
The lingerie company has just revealed the teaser for the show, even previewing some of the models taking part in the event. The set consists of a series of illuminated pink tunnels, reminiscent of the tunnel Rihanna used for the 2019 Savage X Fenty show. Notable stars who will be attending include Hailey Bieber, Naomi Campbell, Gigi Hadid, Honey Dijon, Imaan Hammam, Iris Law and Lila Moss, but Candice Swanepoel, Lily Aldridge and Adriana Lima will also return to the catwalk. And when asked if the Victoria’s Secret World Tour won’t be sexy despite the changes, Raul Martinez replies, “Yes, it definitely will be, but from a female perspective.”
As with Savage x Fenty, the Victoria’s Secret World Tour will stream on Prime Video from 26 September.
