Victoria's Secret Fashion Show returning with 'new version' four years after it was cancelled
Timothy Johnson, Victoria’s Secret’s chief financial officer, has teased that a brand new version of the fashion show will hit the runway.
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show will live to strut another day as organisers are set to revive the show for 2023.
The new version of the lingerie brand’s extravaganza was first reported by Retail Dive after the company’s fourth-quarter 2022 earnings call on Friday.
Timothy Johnson, Victoria’s Secret’s chief financial officer, said the brand will revamp the show following its four-year hiatus.
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“We’re going to continue to lean into the marketing spend to invest in the business, both at top-of-funnel and also to support the new version of our fashion show, which is to come later this year," he said.
A spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that the brand is ‘always innovating and ideating in all spheres of the business to continue to put our customer at the center of all we do and reinforce our commitment to championing women’s voices and their unique perspectives'.
The company teased more details will soon be revealed later this year. “As we’ve previously shared, our new brand projection and mission will continue to be our guiding principle,” the statement continued. “This will lead us into new spaces like reclaiming one of our best marketing and entertainment properties to date and turning it on its head to reflect who we are today. We’re excited to share more later this year.”
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show first graced the runway in 1995 and was broadcasted online for the first time in 1999. The 2001 show was the first to be shown on TV, thanks to ABC, and it featured top models including Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Gisele Bündchen, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and many more.
In the following years, some of the most recognisable faces in fashion like Joan Smalls, Jourdan Dunn, Toni Garrn, Bella and Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner walked the runway at the annual event, while Rihanna, Shawn Mendes and The Weeknd performed their biggest hits at various shows.
The most recent fashion show took place in 2018 and in November 2019 it was cancelled as was the Victoria’s Secret Angel title due to criticism that the brand did not include models of diverse shapes and backgrounds.
Purchases by women aged 18 to 49 had been on the decline for several years prior to the cancellation.
An investigation by The New York Times included allegations of misogyny, bullying and harassment by former Chief Marketing Officer Ed Razek.
It also raised concerns about L Brands Chief Executive Leslie Wexner’s friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A 2022 Hulu documentary titled Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons further critiqued the lingerie brand, which separated from its parent company L Brands in 2021 amid a huge overhaul to the brand to entice customers.
TYLA has contacted Victoria's Secret for comment.
Gregory Robinson