The 2025 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show made its second-year return last night, live from the Brooklyn Navy Yard — and a lot was on the line.
After years of scandal and a stock price that’s dropped over 30% in less than a year, the brand desperately needed a win. While it delivered plenty of feathers and dramatic wings, it might not have been enough.
For the show to make a full recovery from its 2019 cancellation, due to declining ratings, backlash over its lack of diversity and the poor reception of its comeback show last year, the brand desperately needed this year’s show to resonate with viewers — and be a “rebirth” in a sense.
The verdict? Painfully divided. The discourse across social media ranges from people loving what they saw on their screens to others having multiple qualms with it. Some appreciated the inclusion of athletes like gymnast Suni Lee and WNBA player Angel Reese — others were scratching their heads at it.
“It went from Candace Swanepoel and Adriana Lima, to like…who is that?” said Sabrina Zeki, 21, told The Post.
For every viewer celebrating the show’s return to its bombshell, fantasy-driven roots: “I feel like Victoria’s Secret going back to their traditional, early 2000s roots is what everybody really wants,” Zeki said.
Another questioned whether Victoria’s Secret had learned anything at all from its years in exile.
“Given Victoria’s Secret’s insanely problematic past, I’m honestly shocked they are trying to rebrand that f—g garbage bag corporation…” one X user wrote.
“Why is Victoria’s Secret still glorifying 6-foot-tall models that weigh 110 lbs?? They look sick and frail,” someone else chimed in.
The show’s Pink segment, which featured influencers like Gabriela Moura and nepo babies like Iris Law, the daughter of Jude Law and Sadie Frost, was also a topic of debate online.
“Whoever’s recruiting ‘models’ for the show needs to be let go. I don’t need to see ‘socially relevant’ ppl on the runway. VS has always been SUPER MODELS, not randos,” one TikTok comment read
“Their job is to be content creators; they can just get invited….let the supermodels do their job,” read another comment.
However, many others appreciated the inclusivity and were thrilled to see various women from all walks of life and body types walk the runway.
The show tried to be everything at once: a nostalgic throwback and a progressive statement, a celebration of traditional beauty and an embrace of diversity, an exclusive fantasy and an inclusive reality. In trying to thread that impossible needle, it ended up upsetting both audiences.
The backlash wasn’t surprising given Victoria’s Secret’s history. From 2018 to 2022, the brand’s problems became impossible to ignore: fatphobic and transphobic comments from former marketing chief Ed Razek, the New York Times 2019 exposé on ex-CEO Les Wexner’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, which Wexner later denied in a letter to L Brands employees, and an $8.3 million settlement with garment workers over unpaid wages.
The company has since hired new leadership and promised change, but for some viewers, none of that mattered.
“…Everyone loves the OG supermodel, gorgeous, unattainable look. That’s the whole appeal of the show, the fantasy they are selling,” Zeki said.
Read the full article here
