Victoria’s Secret documentary has been announced. News of the project, directed by Matt Tyrnauer, who was also behind the documentary “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” was first revealed last year when the documentary was still called “The Rise and Fall of Victoria’s Secret.” The documentary renamed “Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons” will premiere on Hulu, on July 14th.
From the early 2000s into the later 2010s, Victoria’s Secret dominated the lingerie market, being the go-to brand for intimates. When it introduced its annual fashion show in 1995, the label rose to meteoric fame, possessing one of the most exclusive and most-viewed runway shows in the world.
The big question is: Will Victoria’s Secret be able to take off again? Following several media scandals and court cases, the American lingerie brand founded in 1977 is struggling to change its image.
Victoria’s Secret is now committed to celebrating diversity in an attempt to survive.
Let’s go back to Victoria’s Secret timeline of a difficult rebranding:
This rebranding began in the summer of 2019, as Teen Vogue just reported: while marketing director Edward Razik was stepping down, a trans woman appeared in a brand campaign for the first time, Valentina Sampaio.
In March 2021, the brand parted ways with Les Wexner, long-time CEO and founder of L Brands, owner of Victoria’s Secret, and Bath & Body Works. The following month, it began selling its first maternity bras, which was quite symbolic.
And most importantly, in June, the brand announced that they were done glorifying their ‘Angels’.
Instead, it celebrates the VS Collective: seven personalities, not necessarily models, including footballer Megan Rapinoe, plus-size model Paloma Elsesser, and trans model Valentina Sampaio. In this vein, Victoria’s Secret has also started to display more morphological diversity on its website and in its campaigns, as well as marketing post-mastectomy bras.
In addition to this rebranding, Victoria’s Secret has also launched a podcast called VS Voices and set up a global fund for programs to fight cancers that primarily affect women, such as breast cancer. Victoria’s Secret is thus leading important changes, perhaps difficult to carry out and above all to install in the collective imagination.
The release of this documentary comes at the right time to understand the secrets of this fashion industry giant.
The three-episode docuseries will chronicle how Victoria’s Secret became one of the most popular brands in the world to its downfall. The project will also take a closer look at the company’s longtime CEO, Wexner, and his close ties with Epstein.
Episodes will explore Wexner’s life and how he managed to build a billion-dollar fashion empire; Victoria’s Secret Angels became global superstars and its expansion to adolescents with their brand Pink; and its struggles when they were still part of the L Brands (now known as Bath & Body Works, Inc.) family.
Each will also explore how Wexner and Epstein grew close and how the latter’s weighty allegations contributed to the downfall of Wexner’s empire amid an already shifting cultural and fashion landscape.All three episodes of the series will be available to stream exclusively on Hulu starting July 14.
Words by Melodie Bitala-Samba
Header image: @victoriassecret
