According to a recent study done by YouGov, Victoria’s Secret’s sales are falling, most likely due to the rise in popularity of comfort-first lingerie, Harvey Weinstein, and the #metoo movement. It’s got me wondering, is Victoria’s Secret built to last?
We’ve all seen it: the Victoria’s Secret annual fashion show. Scantily clad ladies strutting around looking like they’ve just come straight out of god’s private sculpting studio. They’re beautiful. They’re perfect. I simultaneously love, hate and want to be them.
The lingerie-churning behemoth might be falling beneath however, with it’s most recent fashion show garnering 30% less viewers than last year, a new low for the show. A recent study by marketing site YouGov also reports falling sales in their target market of 18-49 year old women. Here is a boring, but illustrative chart that shows you what’s going on:
YouGov is also attributing this decline to the rise of the #metoo movement, as well as all that Harvey Weinstein mess. Even though the brand has marketed itself as feminist, and Karlie Kloss herself has defended the integrity of the brand, saying that it’s empowering for a woman in lingerie to own her sexuality, it’s getting hard to believe.
For me, it’s not that they’re in lingerie. It’s that they all have pretty much the same body. When you look at them all, and you hear Karlie Kloss tell you it’s empowering, you don’t get the message that it’s empowering for all women to own their sexuality in lingerie. You get the feeling that it’s empowering for a certain type of woman to own her sexuality in lingerie.
A little diversity maybe? A little more focus on comfort like Aerie or Calvin Klein, or a little less focus on being the perfect pin-up girl. Believe it or not Victoria, but there’s more than one type of body that is considered attractive. Look at Rihanna, look at Beyonce. They’re hot as hell and look nothing like Victoria’s Secret models. I’m also sure they’d look amazing walking down that runway in your lingerie.
Despite the declining sales, Victoria’s Secret is setting up their first full assortment store in Australia. It’s going to be in the Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne, and is gonna have it all: bras, undies, their sportswear, and pyjamas. Rumour has it they’re trying to get one of their Aussie angels like Miranda Kerr or Jessica Hart to be at the opening.
Only time will tell if the opening is worth it, or if Victoria’s Secret is doomed to decline in the post-Weinstein world.