What People Have to Say About the 2024 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

On October 15, 2024, Victoria's Secret held its first fashion show since 2018, and people had quite a bit of negative things to say about it between the models, outfits, and the show altogether. This piqued my interest because Victoria's Secret is always caught in controversy, so I was curious what people were saying about the first fashion show in six years because a lot has changed since then regarding body positivity. 

Victoria's Secret is a lingerie brand that has been providing women with sexy underwear, bras, and pajamas in retail since 1977. The founder, Roy Raymond, started Victoria's Secret because he was embarrassed to buy his wife lingerie in a normal department store. Even though Victoria's Secret produced the sexiest lingerie on the market in the late 1990s, what made them so famous were the fashion shows displaying their products two years before making them available for purchase.           

Victoria's Secret fashion shows continued to grow in popularity and success, so much so that they are a staple event almost 20 years later. 

The show a few days ago not only included original models like Bella Hadid and Gigi Hadid, but it also featured new models like Ashley Grahm and Kai Soleil, which is where some of the widespread controversy stems from. Grahm and Soleil are not the typical Victoria's Secret Angels like we've seen in the past. 

There are mixed reviews on the Angels who walked on Tuesday. On one hand, people are elated to see diversity among the models. Plus-sized and curvy Angels strutted across the stage to break the stigma of what a Victoria’s Secret Angel “should” look

like. As Instagram user @ivonnecutie commented on one of Victoria’s Secret’s posts, “It’s about time us thick girls get recognized by Victoria’s Secret!!” The positive outpour on social media from members of the minorities who walked was incredible to see. 

For the first time in history, Victoria's Secret Angels are not just tall, thin, gorgeous supermodels with an almost “unattainable” body; this is remarkable for the company. They listened to the public about having more representation of typical/average body types. 

However, that is where the other hand stems from. A large majority of people are outraged with the choice of models. Instagram user @biljana_fabijanic shared her opinion under a Victoria’s Secret Instagram post by commenting, “Ugh, no thanks, VS should be about fantasy and as a woman I can assure you l never dreamed of looking like that.” So, this is where it gets tricky. 

Victoria's Secret has faced backlash in the past for the underrepresentation of "normal" bodies. They have been called discriminatory and fatphobic. But, as soon as they start marketing their products on "curvy" or "plus-sized" women, they receive just as much hate for supporting "unhealthy" body types. 

Not only are spectators displeased with who modeled, but they are also upset about what they modeled. For those who do not know, Victoria’s Secret’s Angels wear angel wings and lingerie when they walk down the runway. Usually, these wings and outfits are over the top and jaw-dropping stunning, but they disappointed many people this year. “They replaced the angel wings with tacky looking party city butterfly wings, there were no skimpy cute slutty lingerie, some models couldn't even model walk, and they replaced the blowouts and volumized hair with slick backs,” TikTok user Ava Marie expressed. 

Long-time Victoria's Secret fans were not thrilled with the changes they saw. Via social media, they shared that compared to past shows, the 2024 show needed more color, energy, and theme. It was dissimilar to the shows that occurred from 1995 to 2018. According to long-time followers, the company's comeback felt "cheap" and "poorly produced. "  

Though Victoria's Secret has not spoken about the

negative attitudes towards the show, they have been proactive with negative comments towards the Angels' bodies. Under a post featuring Ashley Grahm, the company commented, "We love and support women of all sizes and love Ashley! Any discriminatory, offensive, insulting, or inappropriate content will be removed. Please review our Community Guidelines for additional details." They held true to their word and removed any nasty comments specifically toward a model's body. 

If I were the brand manager, I would have used social media to over-hype all of the positive comments I could. What I mean by this is replying with lots of love, exclamation points, and heart emojis under followers' kind, excited, and positive comments. This would help reinforce the support of all types of bodies and engage customers with similar beliefs. 

Lastly, what did I learn from this assignment? I learned that companies will never be able to please all of their customers and followers. No matter what the company does, at least one person will always have an issue. When they try to please one group, another feels offended.