SKIMS latest collection is modelled by the cream of the crop in Victoria’s Secret’s history: Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Candice Swanepoel are here to up the glamor.
When I think of Victoria’s Secret, I think of the models during the heydays of the fashion show. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was an Event (capital E), broadcast during primetime in the US and watched here in the Philippines through less than legal means. At its prime in the early 2000s, the show had peak viewership.
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To be a Victoria’s Secret Angel seemed like the height of unabashed, unapologetic female glamor, and I was all for it. It was always exciting to see which of the models would get the coveted wings in the show, the wings being their crowning moment, acknowledged as the queens of the show.
There was also the Fantasy Bra, a collaboration between the brand and a renowned jewelry designer. In 2000, Gisele Bündchen walked down the aisle in a $15 million bra, which earned a place in the Guinness World Records as the most expensive piece of lingerie ever created.
Of course, in the years since, the show and the brand lost their luster, after allegations of racism, body shaming, and the entire brand’s image as a product that served merely as a vehicle for the objectification of women for men. CEO Lex Wexner and his ties to Jeffery Epstein didn’t help, and in 2019, the show was officially canceled.
The brand has since shuttered most of its store locations, due in part to COVID-19 difficulties, and women wanting a shift in how lingerie is marketed. Lingerie obviously, is a product for women to wear and support their bodies. So what filled the vacuum left behind by Victoria’s Secret? None other than Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS.
It might seem strange to think of a Kardashian being the brain trust of a brand that promotes inclusive womanhood in lingerie, but that’s where we are. People love SKIMS for their inclusive shade range that recognizes that women’s skin color is more than the established nude (read: white).
They also come in a bigger range of sizes, focus on comfort, and use older women for their advertising, making a case that lingerie is worn by everyone, not just nubile young women in the prime of their youth. One of the most notable examples is 66-year-old Alice Johnson, who was once sentenced to life in prison for drug charges. Kardashian campaigned for her release and was featured in the brand’s first video ad campaign.
Kardashian knows where the trend in marketing is going when it comes to women-focused brand campaigns. Which is how she got Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Candice Swanepoel in the brand’s Fits Everybody collection.
Glamor has moved on: we no longer need to be bombarded with women in diamond-encrusted bras and outlandish wings: this time the four iconic angels are decked in minimalist SKIMS shapewear and lingerie, stripped down and letting their bodies do the talking.
Of course, this being a Kardashian brand, there has been some slight controversy: people noticed that despite marketing themselves as a body-inclusive brand, whoever was editing the photos still felt the need to use the editing tool on Tyra Banks’ hips.
Regardless, anyone who is a fan of SKIMS, or anyone looking for new underwear to fill the Victoria’s Secret hole in their lives will probably be excited. They’ll want to take a peek at this collection, and perhaps, be tempted to add to cart (if they haven’t already done so).
As for Victoria’s Secret? A brand shift is coming. The new spokespersons are now USWNT footballer Megan Rapinoe, tennis player Naomi Osaka, and actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas. It seems like they’ve listened to the winds of change.
