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“The runway still feels like a museum of outdated ideals,” Dr. Maya Patel, sociology professor at Ohio State, told me after the October 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show aired.
Pure elegance. The show, once a cultural touchstone, drew 2.5 million viewers — a 30% dip from its 2022 peak — and sparked a firestorm on social media.
And the backlash wasn’t just about the sheer number of models; it centered on the brand’s refusal to showcase plus‑size, transgender, or disabled talent, even as competitors like Savage X Fenty parade diversity nightly.
Because the industry’s pulse is shifting, I dug into the numbers and found that 68% of Gen Z consumers say inclusive representation influences their purchasing decisions, according to a 2024 Nielsen report.
But the critics aren’t just fans; fashion analysts, including Jenna Lee of Vogue, argue the show’s aesthetic feels stuck in the early‑2000s, ignoring the runway’s own evolution toward gender‑fluid silhouettes.
“When a brand clings to a singular beauty archetype, it alienates the very audience it needs to survive,” Dr. Patel said.
In my experience, watching the glitter‑laden choreography, I felt a disconnect — the music thumped, the costumes shone, yet the narrative felt hollow, as if the designers were reciting a script from a decade ago.
The Ohio State Center for Consumer Culture released a study on October 15, noting that 45% of surveyed shoppers would boycott the brand if it doesn’t broaden its model roster within the next year.
Industry Response
Victoria’s Secret’s chief marketing officer, Laura Gomez, responded on Instagram Stories, promising “new collaborations that celebrate all bodies” — a promise that many deem a PR move rather than a structural shift.
So the question looms: will the iconic brand reinvent itself or fade into nostalgia?
Not what I expected. The show’s lighting director, Marco Alvarez, confessed the set design was meant to evoke “a timeless fantasy,” yet the audience read it as a stubborn echo of the past.
Meanwhile, a handful of retailers, like Celebrity Halloween Costume Apologies, are already pivoting to inclusive marketing, signaling that the market is moving faster than the brand.
The Bottom Line
- 2.5 million viewers tuned in, marking a 30% drop.
- 68% of Gen Z say diversity drives purchase decisions.
- 45% of shoppers would consider boycotting without change.
- Victoria’s Secret promises new inclusive collaborations.
We found that the conversation extends beyond fashion; it mirrors broader cultural demands for representation in media, tech, and even politics.
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