Victoria’s Secret taps ex-‘Angels’ Gisele Bündchen, Naomi Campbell, Adriana Lima
Victoria’s Secret has called on a cast of former “Angels” to rescue the bedeviled lingerie brand.
The struggling retailer tapped supermodels Gisele Bündchen, Naomi Campbell, Candice Swanepoel and Adriana Lima to helm its new “The Icon Collection” campaign, the company said Wednesday.
Victoria’s Secret disbanded the impossibly slim Angels in 2018 as the company embarked on a mission to make the brand more inclusive.
However, overall sales have sagged the past couple of years and the company has lost market dominance to rivals Aerie, Rihanna’s ultra-inclusive Savage X Fenty and Kim Kardashian’s Skims, which was recently valued at a staggering $4 billion.
The retailer generated $348 million in profits in 2022 — a sharp decline from the $646 million it made in 2021.
The company suffered a net loss of $72 million in 2020 as COVID lockdowns shuttered malls.
Skims also beat Victoria’s Secret to an “Icons” campaign, when it released photos of supermodels Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio and Swanepoel — all former Victoria’s Secret angels — donning Kardashian’s shapewear apparel last April.
Representatives for Victoria’s Secret did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Despite being criticized over its very specific brand image, Victoria’s Secret kept its No. 1 spot as the top lingerie brand in 2022, according to consumer insights firm Brandessence Market Research.
The Ohio-based company’s new “Icon” collection, which also features Emily Ratajkowski and Hailey Bieber, centers around the lingerie brand’s new push-up demi bra, which was worn by supermodels Campbell and Swanepoel in a series of black-and-white photos shared to Victoria’s Secret’s social media pages on Wednesday.
The collection also includes panties, starting at $18.50, and slips and robes from $34.95 in sizes ranging from XS to XXL.
The centerpiece, the demi bra, will retail for $54.95 and ranges from 32A to 44DDD.
Despite the svelte waistlines seen in the campaign images, the collection’s size range is indicative of the brand’s move to get back in touch with its consumer base, who have bashed the company for being “tone-deaf” and slow to adopt more inclusive models and sizes.
“The collection was made to enhance one’s natural shape while staying true to the supportive and seamless look that we love,” Victoria’s Secret Chief Design Officer Janie Schaffer said in a press release.
“It’s an exciting, elevated collection to add to your wardrobe, while reinforcing that we are all icons.”
The size 0 waistlines and washboard abs that plagued Victoria’s Secret’s televised runway show were part of the reason the fashion show — at least as fans knew it — was cancelled ahead of its 2019 edition.
However, Victoria’s Secret announced it was bringing back the famed spectacle after a four-year hiatus in a pre-taped film that’s set to hit streaming services this fall.
This time around, there will be no “Angels” donning sparkly wings and instead has been teased as a showcase of women from around the world in a feature-length movie dubbed “Victoria’s Secret World Tour.”
Pieces in “The Icon” line will be featured in the upcoming show.
Victoria’s Secret, — which will release its second quarter earnings at the end of the month — posted net income of $1 million in the first quarter.
The figure was dismal compared to the $81 million in net income the brand brought in during the same period in 2022. Victoria’s Secret attributed the decline to its acquisition of fellow lingerie brand Adore Me for $400 million that was finalized in January.
Victoria’s Secret noted in its Q1 earnings report that the company’s second-quarter earnings will likely follow a similar trend.
