One of the greatest pleasures of fashion is to be able to wear a piece of clothing that fits perfectly on the body. Not only does it make you look well put together, it is also an instant confidence booster that many of us crave — a little help goes a long way. To push our level of self-esteem to greater heights, we need to look within ourselves, our undergarments.
We have explored the reasons why the world’s most renowned lingerie fashion show, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was cancelled in an earlier post. Two years later, the once backdated brand is making a comeback. Out go the supermodel Angels, in comes the VS Collective, a group of women recognised for their accomplishments and opinions.
Joining the newly formed team includes models Adut Akech, Paloma Elsesser and Valentina Sampaio, actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas and 17-year-old world champion skier Eileen Gu and soccer player Megan Rapinoe. They will take part in a podcast hosted by British photographer Amanda de Cadenet while also providing an advisory role and being the new faces of the company.
“With The VS Collective, we are creating a platform that will build new and deeper relationships with all women. Through a series of collaborations, business partnerships and cause-related initiatives, we are bringing new dimensions to our brand experience. By combining the energy, creativity and perspectives of our new partners with our network, we can transform the way we connect with and appear to women,” said Martha Pease, director of marketing.
The company is ready to throw off the shackles of its past and regain consumer confidence once again. But this is not going to be an easy battle for it is now competing with many upstarts such as CUUP, ThirdLove and most prominently, Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty line. These new players are able to tap on the zeitgeist and offer products that appeal to the needs of this new generation of consumers. According to the YouGov BrandIndex, Victoria’s Secret US brand buzz saw a dip since the last show in late 2018 but despite its struggles, the company remains America’s biggest lingerie seller.
Apart from conducting an overhaul to its image, internally, the structure of the company also saw changes such as appointing more females into the board of directors, Bloomberg reported that six non-executive directors, including the chair, are women. This is a clear indication that the company is committed to empowering females and is culturally aware of the shifting sentiments surrounding equality. Furthermore, with more sales now being done online, the clever pivot towards digital has expanded its online revenue from 24% in 2018 to about 44% now.
In a bid to win back ex-consumers, the company has expanded its bras offering: up to a G cup and sizing up to an XXL. But more work needs to be done such as broadening its lingeries for nursing, maternity and mastectomy bras. All this leads to one single word: Inclusivity. This buzzword represents the new golden standard that companies have to follow in order to remain relevant. Such a makeover also runs the risk of looking like a cynical marketing ploy but this is a gambit that the company has to be willing to make to survive long-term.
So far, comments have been positive but there is still a long way to go and to address this possible gap, the company says the new Collective will be joined by an “ever-growing group” of women in hopes to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Victoria’s Secret Angels still stand for glamour, aspiration and pleasure, but now these qualities have been rethought with a progressive lens and with the whole spectrum of women in mind.