The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is a bust.
L Brands, which owns the storied lingerie company, announced the decision Thursday, saying it’ll be moving on in order to “evolve the messaging of [the company],” reports Fortune.
“We will be communicating to customers, but nothing similar in magnitude to the fashion show,” CFO Stuart Burgdoerfer said on an earnings call with analysts.
As The Post reported earlier this week, insiders have long predicted the demise of the show, particularly after catwalk staple Shanina Shaik leaked the news to the Daily Telegraph in July.
“Unfortunately the Victoria’s Secret show won’t be happening this year,” she said. “It’s something I’m not used to because every year around this time I’m training like an Angel.”
However, the company itself hadn’t confirmed Shaik’s comments until today. It comes after years of frustrations over what some call an outdated beauty standard — including former Angel Karlie Kloss, who quit the gig in the name of feminism.
The show, which has taken place annually around this time of year since 1995, used to be widely regarded for its cast of slender supermodels. Insiders told The Post that modeling in the show was once “the ultimate achievement.”
But lately, the show has lost its sheen, helped along by a cascade of controversy.
Last year, Ed Razek, VS’s former chief marketing officer, made offensive comments to Vogue.com, saying that there was “no room” for plus-size models on their runway and that he would not cast transgender models.
And this summer, it was discovered that Leslie Wexner, CEO of L Brands, was a close friend of disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein used Wexner’s link to Victoria’s Secret to recruit young women by promising them modeling jobs with the brand.
Ultimately, with the brand’s revenue declining quarter by quarter and changing societal ideas of what’s sexy, Victoria’s Secret has been in trouble for quite some time.
Burgdoerfer also chalked their decision up to finances. “Did we see specific material impact in terms of a short-term sales response to the airing of the fashion show? As a general matter, the answer to that question is no.”
The brand did not specify whether the cancellation is temporary, or the fashion show is gone for good.