A Wren Says

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion show has returned. After a hiatus and less then enthusiastic response to their exclusive presentation last year, the brand once again brought their angels to the runway. This time, the focus was on for women by women. From the all women production team, to the musical talents, and the diversity of multiple body types, it is clear that the brand was trying to do things differently this time.

When a previous CEO was asked about whether he would ever include trans women as models, he responded that he was trying to sell a fantasy to men. That of course sparked a backlash and has brought us to this moment. All of the new directions in the marketing effort has been about putting women first. It is women who largely buy the products for themselves, and by and large women will be the ones wearing the items. How do you then tailor the marketing to reach them and to resonate with them?

The biggest difference is that the collection was immediately shoppable. If you liked what you saw, you could add it to cart shortly after the show aired. But from what I saw, a lot of the runway elements were similar to the old shows. There were the wings, there were musical performances, and there was a return the stage with the original angels Adriana Lima and Tyra Banks. The glamour was still there, but this year was live streamed. There were no cuts and editing in post. Instead, you saw realness. You saw the community of women backstage. You saw the wobbles of models unsteady in their high heels. That realness ties in to the new direction of being for all women, not just those who are perfect.

Did you get a chance to watch the show? What do you think about this new direction for Victoria’s Secret?