In the wake of last week’s much-hyped Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, seems the high-fashion luxury lingerie line has some ‘splaining to do. The fashion powerhouse has always prided itself on using “culturally diverse” models, even including its first vitiligo model, Winnie Holder, this year. But in responding to queries about expanding their ideas of inclusivity to embrace plus-sized and transgender models, chief marketing officer of L Brands Ed Razek kind of stepped in it.
In an pre-show interview with Vogue magazine, Razek stated, “I don’t think we can be all things to all customers. It is a specialty business; it isn’t a department store.” And just in case he wasn’t clear about why VS hasn’t employed curvier models, Razek went on to defend the brand, stating, “no one had any interest” in watching a show featuring them in the past and “still don’t.” He also got specific about why transgender models have been left out of the lingerie shows, in spite of the fact that transgender models have become an increasing presence on high fashion catwalks. “’Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show?’ No. No, I don’t think we should. ‘Well, why not?’ Because the show is a fantasy,” he said.
Let’s just say Razek’s comments weren’t well received on social media, as people all over the Twitterverse got their knickers in a twist and let VS have it. The backlash was so immense, Razek was forced to respond in his own twitter account, posting, “My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive. I apologize. To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model in our show. We’ve had transgender models come to castings…And like many others, they didn’t make it. It was never about gender. I admire and respect their journey to embrace who they really are.”
Sounds nice, doesn’t it? I guess the proof will be in the panties come show time next year.
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