The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show returned last night in Brooklyn, New York after a six-year hiatus after the brand was embroiled in anti-trans and fatphobic controversy. This year, they returned to the runway, featuring two trans girls in the show, Alex Consani and Valentina Sampaio.
Valentina Sampaio wore a basic black satin lingerie set, over top of which she wore a sparkly embellished fishnet midi skirt. In lieu of classic Victoria’s Secret Angel wings, she had a giant black and bronze organza bow strapped to her arms. Alex Consani wore a periwinkle two-piece lingerie set with sequins and a pair of floor-length plush satin wings.
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The 2018 show suffered poor ratings following comments made by Ed Razek, a then-executive at L Brands, Victoria’s Secret’s former parent company, stating that he did not believe that trans and plus-size models belonged in the Victoria’s Secret show. The company further snowballed into controversy after a 2020 New York Times report that exposed a company culture of misogyny and harassment.
“If you’re asking if we’ve considered putting a transgender model in the show or looked at putting a plus-size model in the show, we have,” he said. “We invented the plus-size model show in what was our sister division, Lane Bryant. Lane Bryant still sells plus-size lingerie, but it sells a specific range just like every specialty retailer in the world sells a range of clothing. As do we. We market to who we sell to, and we don’t market to the whole world.”
In celebration of an attempt at a more inclusive chapter for Victoria’s Secret, many familiar faces showed up in attendance, including Cardi B, Coco Jones, Remi Bader, and more.