THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS

BY: Michael Arkin

To all the women who squirmed while watching the endless loop of scantily clad supermodels playing on screens behind the cashiers at one of Victoria’s Secret’s 1,100 US locations, the news that the lingerie giant was changing its image and brand ambassadors from runway icons to seven “trailblazing women” (henceforward known as the VS Collective), must have come as a pleasant surprise. These customers, women whose average waistlines measure 37.6 inches (14 inches more than Victoria Secret’s typical Angel), may have been uneasy with the imagery of a gaggle of beauties rolling around in bed together like some soft-porn slumber party.  Nevertheless, they brandished their credit cards and drove the retail behemoth’s 2020 revenue to $5 billion.

But the brand, one of the most ardent purveyors of frat house fantasies, had seen its halo begin to tarnish. Revenue, which according to Statista, reached a highwater mark of $7.7 billion in 2016 had dropped along with market share. 200 stores were shuttered. Even its signature fashion show, a parade of Angels’ wings, impossibly toned bodies and diamond-encrusted bras slid in the ratings and was cancelled.

 

Not great news for parent company, L Brands, which tried to sell Victoria’s Secret last year. In the midst of the pandemic, the bids didn’t quite live up to the company’s expectations. The company now plans to spin it off rather than sell it. Amid all of this, one has to wonder what happened to the brand that had 11.2 million Twitter followers and that 77.2% of females 16-24 intended to purchase from.

It appears that the trouble may be the Angels themselves. In reality, the image of perfection that these models present can be achieved only by either undergoing the most Spartan diet and exercise regimen or through photoshopping. It’s no secret that Victoria’s Secret set the bar pretty high. When one Australian model, Bridget Malcolm gained half an inch on her hips, she was rejected by one of her high-profile clients and told that her body didn’t look good enough. She told USA Today that gaining half an inch “was not enough to get my period back or stop my hair from falling out but was enough to get myself into recovery from my eating disorder.”

Launched in 1977 in Palo Alto, California by Roy and Gaye Raymond, the Victoria’s Secret story really began when, under the wary eyes of retail clerks, Mr. Raymond felt uncomfortable buying his wife lingerie in department stories. Hoping to play into the caprices of red-blooded men, he conjured up a vision of the straightlaced Victorian age where dirty little secrets were taking place behind closed boudoir doors and named the brand after it. A stark contrast to the repressive milieu associated with Queen Victoria’s England, his lingerie and marketing imagery might have made her Majesty blush. Then again, maybe not. After all, her husband was rumored to have a ring piercing the tip of his penis. Aptly named a Prince Albert, this remains one of the most popular male genital piercings.

Mr. Raymond not only succeeded in creating a hospitable environment for male shoppers (who were even welcomed in the fitting rooms), he launched its successful catalog. Nonetheless, in five years the business, which had grown to six stores and more than $4 million in annual sales, was nearing bankruptcy. 

 

Every story needs a savior and for Victoria’s Secret he appeared in the guise of Les Wexner. Wexner, founder of L Brands, (formerly Limited Brands), purchased the company for $1 million. In 1983 he hired Edward Razek who was later promoted to Chief Marketing Officer. Mr. Razek who was instrumental in mounting the brand’s signature fashion shows, enlisted the modeling world’s biggest names including Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen and Tyra Banks to be ‘Angels’. By doing so, he set a new, if unobtainable, standard of female beauty and sexuality. 

 

More akin to a 1960s Playboy pin-up than a lingerie line, Victoria’s Secret’s advertising appeared to be designed to appeal to men’s libidos more than the middle-American women that wore their bras and panties. They recruited marquee name directors including the master of pubescent action films, Michael Bay, to direct their television spots. Mr. Bay’s 2010 Christmas ad featured sparsely dressed models in front of explosions, knife throwing targets, helicopters and motorcycles. There was no mistaking whose proclivities the ad, which promised “one gift and a thousand fantasies” was fulfilling. 

Beneath the glitter and bejeweled brassieres, trouble was brewing. The #MeToo movement was making headlines. As sales started to slip, a number of employees came forward to try and course correct the marketing efforts to appeal to a broader, more diverse audience. According to the New York Times, “When they tried to steer the company away from what one called its ‘porny’ image, they were rebuffed. Three said they had been driven out of the company.” When one employee asked Mr. Wexner his thoughts on embracing fuller body types he allegedly said, “Nobody goes to a plastic surgeon and says, ‘make me fat’.”

His lieutenant, Mr. Razek echoed his boss’ antiquated thinking. When Vogue asked if the brand would consider including plus-size and transgender models in its fashion shows he purportedly told them no, explaining, “The show is a fantasy. A 42-minute entertainment special. That’s what it is.” Try telling that to Lizzo’s 11 million Instagram followers. That’s a number worth its weight in gold albums and proves that some fantasies are larger than others.

 

Mr. Razek, long thought to be Mr. Wexner’s closest confidant, wielded a lot of power including making or breaking a model’s career. As reported in the New York Times, “He asked models in their bras and underwear for their phone numbers…he urged others to sit on his lap.” According to the paper, during a fitting for a 2018 fashion show he reportedly watched Bella Hadid get measured for underwear, telling her to “Forget the panties.” At the same fitting he allegedly “Placed his hand on another model’s underwear-clad crotch.” 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, there was that little matter pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Epstein, who for more than a decade acted as Mr. Wexner’s personal financial adviser, was presenting himself as a Victoria’s Secret talent scout to unsuspecting women. In 1997 he invited a California model named Alicia Arden to his hotel room at Shutters on the Beach to audition for the company’s catalog. Once there, he proceeded to grope, undress and harass her. She was not the last. In 2000, then 16-year-old Maximillia Cordero was introduced to Epstein who, according to the New York Post “Could help her develop a modeling career. Epstein allegedly told her he could get her into the chain’s famed catalog if she was nice to him.”

 

Just days before Epstein’s suicide, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece in which former employees claimed that “Mr. Razek’s 71-year-old approach ‘Has prevented the company from evolving and representing a more inclusive image.” In the wake of criticism and consumer blowback, the long-time CMO resigned. Coincidentally, his resignation was announced a day after transgender model Valentina Sampaio shot her first campaign for the brand.

Capping a tumultuous year in which his ties to the late Mr. Epstein came under scrutiny, in February 2020 Les Wexner announced he was stepping down from L Brands and selling his controlling stake in Victoria’s Secret. As the New York Times summarized, “At the helm of a company that catered to women but was run largely by men, Mr. Wexner lost touch with what women wanted.”

 

Turns out the look they wanted was less starving orphan and more multiracial Kim Kardashian with voluptuous curves, derrières and diversity. The new Victoria’s Secret team, headed by CEO Martin Waters is leading the charge in what the New York Times calls “The most extreme brand turnaround in recent memory.” If they think that’s extreme, they should talk to Caitlin Jenner. 

 

When it comes to inclusivity and diversity, Victoria’s Secret may be a Johnny-come-lately. Having banished the Angels from their firmament, the brand’s VS Collective will have to fight new competitors led by Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty, which is predicted to be number one in market share within the next four years, and Ms. Kardashian’s Skims. Speaking to the New York Times, Mr. Waters admitted, “When the world was changing, we were slow to respond.” 

 

 

 

The trouble with Angels is that sometimes even they can take a fall.

Copyright 2021 by Michael Arkin. All Rights Reserved.