The return of the Victoria’s Secret parade reignites controversy – Zeleb

In 2019, the cancellation of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show was announced. In 2024 it is back. What has changed in these years so that it is considered that now is the time to relaunch that lingerie exhibition that seemed like an absolutely outdated model? Nothing. And the formula has not changed at all either, as seen this October 15 in New York. He Victoria’s Secret parade It consisted, as always, of women showing themselves with very little clothing on the catwalk, an abundance of famous names, famous singers providing spectacle… As an addition, a little diversity (racial, in terms of bodies or ages) but within a very narrow margin . The controversy has returned with this new parade.

Among the opinions contrary to the spirit of the Victoria’s Secret parade is that of Vanessa Friedmanfashion director at The New York Times, who wrote a forceful article titled The Victoria’s Secret show is back. shouldn’t. This fashion critic argued that “if there is something that is no secret, it is that parading down a catwalk with half-naked bodies, regardless of size or age, has nothing to do with empowermentbut with reification, even if it is a reification with equal opportunities.” So, he concludes, we are facing a relic to be extinguished.

The experiment he did is also interesting. Danielle Pergament and which he turned into an article for the magazine Allure. She watched the Victoria’s Secret fashion show with her teenage daughter and saw how the young woman questioned the formula in the following way: “Mom, you know that’s bullshit, right? —He usually doesn’t swear. I do. —They don’t celebrate women’s bodies. They have some models who are not skinny and pretend they are body positive. It’s pure symbolism. “It’s nonsense.”

Then there are the bulk of fashion and trend magazines and publications that simply spread the spectacle to their audience without questioning anything. Although, even in those media that prefer not to get involved in cultural or ideological debates, The Victoria’s Secret parade no longer occupied such a privileged place like before.

There is something that, yes, has changed. The social perception of parades like this is not the same as it existed a few years ago. No one (least of all the media) is free from sin. It’s not about pointing fingers. The important thing is to evolve. Accept that there is new sensitivity. Promote free debate. That cannot translate into hiding the news. But when talking about the Victoria’s Secret parade, it is no longer enough to resort to the happy clichés of yesteryear. And that’s okay, it makes us better.