Discrimination in Victoria’s Secret By Polina V The reason behind the brand not wanting to include any transgender or plus-sized models in their show all unfolded back in November, when the CMO of the brand, Ed Razek, was asked about inclusivity in the show in an interview with W Magazine. When asked by W Magazine: “Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show?” Razek responds with: “No. No, I don’t think we The Victoria’s Secret Fashion 2018 has previously under attack and for good should/ Because the show is a fantasy. reason. This iconic fashion show has been It’s a 42-minute entertainment special. criticised by diversity advocates for not That’s what it is. It is the only one of its including any transgender or plus-sized kind in the world, and any other fashion models in their hour long entertainment brand in the world would take it in a special. Over the past decades this fashion minute, including competitors that are show has featured prominent names in carping at us. And they carp at us because we’re the leader.” This fashion such as Naomi Campbell, Adriana Lima and Gisele Bundchen. From the provoked a major backlash across digital alluring lingerie to the performances and social media, where Ed Razek was featuring top ranked artists, this show has condemned for displaying an out of touch become a global phenomenon. Recently, attitude. One beauty influencer in many fans have acknowledged the lack of particular, Gigi Gorgeous, a Youtube diversity that this show has to offer. sensation who publicly transitioned from While Victoria's Secret has previously male to female, slammed Victoria’s Secret praised themselves for championing for excluding trans and plus sized women. diversity by including models of different On the 10th of November, Gorgeous submitted a tweet stating: “Devastated ethnicities, the brand has faced heavy criticism for their arguably old-fashioned (and also disgusted) seeing all the perspective when it comes to both articles I woke up to today about plus-size and transgender models. If you @victoriassecret explaining why they take a look at the lineup for the show, the don’t use transgender or plus-sized brand features a range of models from all girls in their shows..Even typing this is a stupid JOKE.” Additionally, she released a ethnic backgrounds. Yet, as fashion has greatly changed throughout time, our video stating how Ed Razek statement society now has more intersectional negatively affected the transgender and standards of diversity. plus-sized community.
Gorgeous pointed out that times have tousled hair, puffy legs and long bronzed changed since the first fashion show in legs image. At the end of the day, 1995, and that body diversity and Victoria’s Secret has their prerequisites transgender representation are necessary for their own fashion line and who they in modern fashion. Just like Gorgeous, choose to feature in it. other individuals were able to point out that it is shallow to hire women based on Once again, in respect to the fact that an unrealistic standard of appearance. Victoria’s Secret has their own They feel that most women in Western prerequisites, many individuals strongly cultures are plus-sized and it is crucial to agree that they are outdated and the represent women of all shapes and sizes inclusion of transitioned women or which would therefore lead to more sales. plus-sized women should not even be a Women deserve to feel comfortable and debate. After the backlash had escalated, empowered in their own skin, no matter Razek, through Victoria’s Secret’s Twitter their shape or size. Additionally, Victoria's account, issued a rare apology. The Secret has been fighting falling sales since four-sentence message addressed the 2016 and perhaps their unwillingness to comment surrounding trans women, evolve out of their archaic view of female saying he would cast trans women bodies could be an issue. However, despite never having done so, and ignored brands like Aerie and Rihanna's lingerie that he had said nobody had any interest Savage X Fenty take a more body positive in plus-size women. In what could be approach toward sizing and marketing. If perceived as a rebuke of the statements, Victoria’s Secret fail to continue current Victoria’s Secret model Kendall overlooking changes in the market, then Jenner — arguably their most high-profile their stores will continue to witness a employee — shared an Instagram story downfall. over the weekend of a pin with the words “celebrate trans women”, being that her There is also an argument that Victoria’s father, Caitlyn Jenner is known for Secret is known for what it has always transitioning publicly in 2015. Former VS been. It is a commercial business models Karlie Kloss and Lily Aldridge enterprise. The women who represent shared an art piece from activist Victoria’s Secret, also known as the Wednesday inscribed with the words “Angels” are placed on extreme diets and “Trans and GNC people are not a debate.” workout regimens to maintain their Similarly to Rezak’s apology, no inclusion striking physiques. After all, the main job was made of plus-size women. of a model is to sell clothing, not necessarily represent the vast majority of Unless Victoria’s Secret appoints a CMO women. As a brand Victoria’s Secret is with different morals as opposed to selling an image, in this case specifically: a Razek’s, (which is very unlikely) everything will be static in the meantime. There is the possibility that perhaps another brand out there could take an entity already grasping at relevancy and start a path to a new phenomenon, where women of all body types, heritage and backgrounds can be valued.
Watch my video @: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W 1KS8aCJYA