After rumors swirled earlier this year that Victoria’s Secret would be taking its annual fashion show off the air, the lingerie brand has now officially announced that it is cancelling the spectacle altogether. The extravaganza has been a major event for the brand since it debuted in 1995, but viewership reached an all-time low in 2018.“We think it’s important to evolve the messaging of Victoria’s Secret,” the CEO of L Brands, Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, Stu Burdoerfer said. “We will be communicating to customers but nothing similar in magnitude to the fashion show. We will communicate to customers through lots of vehicles including social media and other channels.”Victoria’s Secret has faced plenty of criticism in recent years due to its perpetuation of outdated beauty standards. It appeared the once beloved lingerie company was going through a rebrand, with Ed Razek, the controversial chief marketing officer who famously told Vogue that Victoria’s Secret should not have to include plus-size or trans models in its show, leaving the company in August. Following his departure, Victoria's Secret added its first plus-size model and transgender model to its ad campaigns, but the attempts are too little too late.Sales for the lingerie brand are continuing to decline, while Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty, which has become the anti-Victoria’s Secret through its inclusive approach to lingerie, has had a ton of success. Rihanna streamed her Savage x Fenty fashion show on Amazon for the first time in August, proving that people still want to watch women strut in their underwear as long as it is diverse, empowering, and not Victoria’s Secret.
