“We think it’s important to evolve the marketing of Victoria’s Secret,” L Brands, owner of Victoria Secret, Chief Financial Officer Stuart Burgdoerfer said.
The first Victoria’s Secret fashion show aired in 1995, but last year the show fell to its lowest ratings since its inception.
“It was a very important part of the brand building of this business and was an important aspect of the brand and a remarkable marketing achievement,” Burgdoerfer said Thursday. “We’re figuring out how to advance the positioning of the brand and best communicate that to customers.”
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.
Outdated and Obsolete
For years the show had been a frustration of many, both consumers and commentators. Even former former Angel Karlie Kloss, who quit the show in the name of feminism and the outdated concept of what beauty was.
Their former Chief Marketing Officer said last year that there was “no room” for plus-size models on their runway and that he would not cast transgender models in an interview with Vogue.com.
And the L Brands company’s founder and CEO Leslie Wexner’s was tied to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was Wexner’s former personal money manager and a trustee of the Wexner Foundation, Wexner’s charitable group based Ohio.
As for business? The brand’s revenue has been in decline quarter by quarter and Victoria’s Secret has been in trouble for quite some time.
The brand did not specify whether the cancellation is temporary, or the fashion show is gone for good.
