Victoria's Secret Is Threatening to Bring Back Its Fashion Show

“I honestly don’t even hate Victoria’s Secret as much as I’m supposed to but I still want them to fuck off and die already so I don’t have to keep writing about them every time they fuck up and/or launch a new half-baked rehabilitation attempt,” is something I tweeted last month when the struggling lingerie brand had the gall to announce its latest such attempt on my day off from work.

For a few years, it seemed like I might eventually get my wish for Victoria’s Secret to die a merciful death. Between a series of PR snafus and waning interest in the brand’s dated image as competitors embraced more inclusive sizing and advertising, Victoria’s Secret appeared to be on death’s doorstep. Unfortunately, the brand seems intent on holding on for at least a little while longer, and appears convinced it can pull off an eleventh-hour rebrand that seeks to turn the company that once embodied a prescriptive vision of pushed-up, rail-thin femininity into “the leading advocate for women.”

As part of this Hail Mary pass, Victoria’s Secret reportedly has plans to bring back its once iconic fashion show. The show’s cancellation back in 2019 after years of annual TV domination was one of the first signs of the brand’s seemingly inevitable demise, so it’s only to be expected that Victoria’s Secret would look to resurrect the fashion show as a sign of what it apparently hopes will be a triumphant return.

“Our intention is to get back into the fashion show business in a culturally relevant way,” chief executive Martin Waters reportedly told investors in a conference call on Monday, according to the New York Post. “You should anticipate that the fashion show will be part of our business. We will redefine it.”

Details on what exactly a “culturally relevant” return of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show will entail, as well as when we can actually expect it to be unleashed upon the world, remain scarce. But presumably, the VS fashion show 2.0 will not feature the Angels who used to famously strut the runway in massive glittery wings and extravagant “Fantasy” bras. Last month, the company announced those former icons had been swapped in favor of a more diverse, inclusive group of brand reps dubbed the “VS Collective,” which includes the likes of Megan Rapinoe and Piryanka Chopra-Jonas.

What Victoria’s Secret considers a “culturally relevant” version of its now-defunct fashion show remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: whatever it is and whenever it happens, god knows I’ll be stuck writing about it.