Oh, Victoria’s Secret. Sadly, the once-great lingerie giant missed the inclusivity memo of the last few years, and they’re suffering for it.
After they put out yet another questionable ad, the brand Curvy Kate released their own clapback ad — and it was way more diverse than Victoria’s Secret could ever dream of being.
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Victoria’s Secret hasn’t made their exclusivity much of a secret.
In their minds, no one is interested in plus-size bodies, or in seeing transgender models.
They’ve been pretty open about it, too. But that kind of attitude doesn’t have much of a place in this new, more body-positive world.
Their company’s CMO made a very controversial statement in 2015.
“Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes [in 2000]. No one had any interest in it, still don’t.” Ed Raznek told Vogue .
Hi! I do! Rihanna does! We all want to see that!
Plus-size influencers are fed up with Victoria’s Secret.
“In a world that regularly celebrates the ‘Victoria’s Secret’ body type, but continually censors and shames bodies like mine, I sometimes get so discouraged and feel hopeless.
It’s hard to feel sexy when it’s next to impossible to find lingerie geared towards bigger women.” Influencer Lyndsay Patricia (aka Plus Size Barbie) wrote on Instagram.
To their credit, Victoria’s Secret has made strides towards including more plus-size models.
This recent ad features a more diverse set of models than the brand has ever had before.
They call it “redefining our lingerie landscape,” which is pretty heartening to hear from them!
Their sizing doesn’t reflect that, though.
Their lingerie line only goes up to an XL, and the biggest cup size in that line is a 36D.
Their biggest bra cup size is a 40DDD and is only available online. No in-store shopping for the plus-sized among us (me, it’s me).
So it was no surprise that this ad got made.
I’m glad they’re at least trying nowadays, because that fact makes this ad about 0.00001% less upsetting. Maybe.
Those bodies are great bodies, but we have to scrap the idea of a “perfect” body.
They tried to change it.
Unfortunately, they didn’t change much.
While those women are stunning , they’re all quite similar. If you want to advertise something for everybody, you have to actually have some different bodies in there!
Enter the clapback queens.
Tired of seeing ads that portray the perfect body as thin, the brand Curvy Kate got mad — and then they got creative.
Using the top 10 models from their annual Star in A Bra contest, Curvy Kate staged the perfect spoof.
Look at all those amazing bodies!
Meet the top 10 finalists sporting lingerie made for plus sizes.
Curvy Kate is all about catering to the sizes VS has left behind. They carry sizes D-K in lingerie and swimwear.
This is inclusivity at its best.
It’s nice to see a variety of bodies represented in media, and Curvy Kate is totally at the forefront of that.
They have a size range that far outstrips Victoria’s Secret’s. They’re filling a crucial hole in the market that VS was uninterested in.
They had some things to say about Victoria’s Secret, too.
After the Victoria’s Secret fashion show in 2018, they published a blog post titled, “#WeDontNeedYourWings.”
“Let’s be honest, the lingerie giant should know better by now, with their huge following, images that clog up our feed for a few days and the mass of people who tune into the show, what message is this sending?” They wrote .
Their brand is for everyone.
“We’re here for ALL the tall, small, fat, thin, big or small busted girls out there! Your wings may feel clipped by societies beauty standards but we’re flying high on self-love and appreciation for ALL bodies.”
VS has started to take that to heart.
The change in how they do representation has been slow, but it definitely exists.
In October 2019, they launched their first campaign featuring a plus size model, Ali Tate Cutler. However, it was a collaboration with the brand Bluebell, and thus she didn’t become a Victoria’s Secret Angel.
Real change came with the hiring of Yvonne Simone.
For the brand’s major redefinition in 2020, VS hired model Yvonne Simone.
She, alongside the current VS angels, helped kick off a new era of Victoria’s Secret. Here’s hoping they can catch up to the rest of us!
