The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has been officially canceled this year as the company works to save its reputation after plummeting ratings and years of backlash over its lack of diversity.
The lingerie giant’s parent company, L Brands, confirmed the end of the holiday runway extravaganza in an earnings call on Thursday, four months after model Shanina Shaik leaked the news.
The decision was part of a move to ‘evolve the messaging of [the company],’ Fortune reported, and it seems like the lavish event is already on its way to becoming a relic of the past.
It comes a year after marketing chief Ed Razek saying that the brand would not cast plus-sized or ‘transexual’ models because the show is a ‘fantasy.’
It’s come under criticism from high profile figures such as Jameela Jamil, who accused the company of being a ‘transphobic, fat phobic company that sets out to exclude most women’, during a Twitter spat with model Sarah Sampaio.
End of an era: The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has been canceled for the first time in 23 years after plummeting ratings and years of backlash over its lack of diversity. Pictured: Models on the catwalk at the brand’s final show in 2018
Spilling the beans: L Brands, which owns the lingerie retailer, confirmed during an earnings call on Thursday that the show has been canceled following months of rumors. Pictured: Model Lily Aldridge on the catwalk in 2015
‘We will be communicating to customers, but nothing similar in magnitude to the fashion show,’ CFO Stuart Burgdoerfer said during the call with analysts.
Although Burgdoerfer praised the show for being a ‘remarkable marketing achievement,’ he noted that the runway event didn’t really impact short-term sales.
The company is moving away from extravagant marketing methods as sales at Victoria’s Secret continue to decline.
Sales have dropped seven per cent in the latest quarter compared to a two per cent fall during the same period last year, according to Fortune.
Aside from a small rise in the first quarter in 2018, the lingerie retailer has had falling sales every quarter since the fourth quarter in 2016.
![Last one? The decision was part of a move to 'evolve the messaging of [the company].' The last Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, featuring Winnie Harlow, Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Alexina Graham (pictured) was filmed in November 2018](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/21/23/5955016-7712477-She_rocks_Whether_laughing_with_her_friends_pouting_with_attitud-m-45_1574379042614.jpg)
Last one? The decision was part of a move to ‘evolve the messaging of [the company].’ The last Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, featuring Winnie Harlow, Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Alexina Graham (pictured) was filmed in November 2018
Beginning: The first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City in 1995 with models such as Angelika Kallio (left) and Leilani (right) walking the runway
Rumors that the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was getting canned have been circulating for months, with Shaik letting it slip in July that it was canceled.
‘Unfortunately, the Victoria’s Secret show won’t be happening this year,’ said the 28-year-old model, who has walked in the show five times since 2011.
‘It’s something I’m not used to because every year around this time I’m training like an Angel,’ she told The Daily Telegraph.
‘But I’m sure in the future something will happen which I’m pretty sure about,’ she added optimistically. ‘I’m sure they’re trying to work on branding and new ways to do the show because it’s the best show in the world.’
The first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City in 1995, and over the past 23 years, it has featured some of the world’s most in-demand models, including Stephanie Seymour, Naomi Campbell, Kendall Jenner, and sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid.
Catwalk queen: Gisele Bundchen, pictured in 2005, was among the supermodels involved in the show’s history
Famous faces: The show has featured some of the world’s most in-demand models over the years, including Naomi Campbell in 2005 (left) and Heidi Klum in 2008 (right)
However, interest in fashion extravaganza, which has only featured slim models, has waned in recent years.
TV ratings for the annual Victoria Secret Fashion Show fell to a historic low of just 3.3 million in 2018, down from a high of more than 10 million viewers in 2011, according to a February 13 report from CNBC.
Its official cancellation follows the announcement in May that the show would no longer be aired on network television after nearly two decades.
The New York Times reported that a leaked internal email from Leslie Wexner, the CEO of L Brands, revealed that the lingerie giant was undergoing some changes.
‘Fashion is a business of change. We must evolve and change to grow. With that in mind, we have decided to re-think the traditional Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show,’ he wrote.
Whoops! Model Shanina Shaik, pictured walking in last year’s show, let it slip in July that the show was canceled
Looking back: Gigi Hadid (left) and Kendall Jenner (right) were among the famous faces who walked the runway at last year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
‘Going forward we don’t believe network television is the right fit. In 2019 and beyond, we’re focusing on developing exciting and dynamic content and a new kind of event — delivered to our customers on platforms that she’s glued to … and in ways that will push the boundaries of fashion in the global digital age.’
The email came six months after marketing chief Ed Razek dismissed calls for plus-sized and ‘transexual’ models, telling Vogue at the time that the show is a ‘fantasy.’
‘We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes [in 2000]. No one had any interest in it, still don’t,’ he said. ‘I don’t think we can be all things to all customers. It is a specialty business; it isn’t a department store.’
Razek, who ended up resigning in August, apologized for the gaffe, but not before ThirdLove founder Heidi Zak seized on it with a scathing full-page ad in the New York Times.
‘You market to men and sell a male fantasy to women,’ Zak wrote. ‘Your show may be a “fantasy,” but we live in reality… We may not have been a woman’s first love, but we will be her last.’
Standard: For years, Victoria’s Secret has faced backlash for using only incredibly thin models in its campaigns and fashion shows. The brand came under fire for this campaign in 2014
Changes: Ali Tate Cutler became the first size 14 model to be featured in a Victoria’s Secret campaign last month as part of the brand’s partnership with the lingerie retailer Bluebella
New: The company has been trying to revive it’s brand by hiring a more diverse cast of models, including transgender beauty Valentina Sampaio (left) and curvy star Lorena Duran (right)
Three months later, executives for L Brands announced that it was closing as many as 53 Victoria Secret stores across the US in 2019.
Victoria’s Secret had already shuttered 20 stores in 2018 amid a poor annual sales performance, ending the year with former CEO Jan Singer resigning last November.
In recent months, the brand has been trying to revive its ailing company by hiring a more diverse cast of models, including transgender beauty Valentina Sampaio.
Victoria’s Secret recently featured a size 14 model — Ali Tate Cutler — in an ad campaign for the first time as part of its partnership with London-based lingerie brand Bluebella.
The retailer has been facing stiff competition from newer lingerie brands with more inclusive marketing strategies aimed at women of all shapes, sizes, and skin tones.
Rihanna’s wildly successful Savage X Fenty lingerie line is among the brands that have given Victoria’s Secret a run for its money in recent years.
Competition: Rihanna’s wildly successful Savage X Fenty lingerie line is among the brands that have given Victoria’s Secret a run for its money in recent years
Winning: Numerous headlines purported that Savage X Fenty’s second annual fashion show, which featured a wide representation of model, had ‘killed’ Victoria’s Secret
What a difference: Bella Hadid, who has been in three Victoria’s Secret shows (left), said she ‘never felt powerful’ in lingerie until she walked in the Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty show (right)
The singer’s second annual Savage x Fenty runway show streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on September 20, a little over a week after it was filmed at Barclays Center in Brooklyn during New York Fashion Week.
Numerous headlines purported that the diverse spectacular, which featured musical performances, dancers, and a wide representation of models, had ‘killed’ Victoria’s Secret.
Bella Hadid recently indicated that she ‘never felt powerful’ during the three Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows she has walked in her career.
The 23-year-old supermodel was in Paris on Friday when she looked back on being part of Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty show at New York Fashion Week this September.
‘Rihanna’s amazing. For me, that was the first time on a runway that I felt really sexy,’ said, according to Women’s Wear Daily.
‘When I first did Fenty, I was doing other lingerie shows and I never felt powerful on a runway, like, in my underwear,’ she added.