The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show descended upon Shanghai, China, earlier this week, and what a show it was. If the publicity surrounding the event is to be believed, the opportunity to wear the “Angel Wings” and strut, almost naked, in spindly heels, is for a coterie of chosen models, the lingerie equivalent of winning an Oscar.
That is, if an Oscar could be infused somehow with the zealous pageantry of an ice-skating routine, the nobility of a university graduation and the sacredness normally bestowed upon a rite of passage into womanhood, such as a Bat Mitzvah. “What a dream come true…” is how model Bella Hadid described her walk in a bra and undies down a brightly-lit corridor. “I am so grateful to all who have supported me, believed in me and stood by me.”

Less noble perhaps, is the shopping mall ideal of sexiness required by the models to generate in front of roughly 18,000 onlookers, while wearing their body weight in props attached mainly to their back. Alas! Not all models make it, some become casualties of the runway (condolences to Ming Xi who described her stumble as “traumatic”). While some must bear the burden of simply wearing an ensemble that looks as if it were made, last minute, by a bunch of undergraduate fashion students, all aiming to appropriate from as many ancient cultures as possible, in the dim light of a bordello.
Victoria’s Secret tried their best to sidestep the usual accusations of racial insensitivity by including 55 models from 20 different countries in the show. But before we begin handing out bouquets of bralettes in recognition of their “most diverse show yet!”, let us pause to remember that not one curve model was present.

The most famous curve model of the moment, Ashley Graham, wasted no time in airing her thoughts, posting a photo of herself to Instagram wearing lingerie and wings, ie, looking like a Victoria’s Secret Angel, and captioning it “Got My Wings!” along with the hashtag #thickthighssavelives. Australian model Robyn Lawley also took to Instagram, posting a pic of herself in a swimming costume and writing “I’m a little disappointed that the VS runway had no one above a size 8 on there. It’s just a little infuriating in this time and age to not show at that level of exposure some body diversity!”

The lack of body diversity is especially glaring in light of the most recent Fashion Month, which included a raft of curve models in their shows. But Fashion Weeks at New York, Paris, London and Milan are not aimed at consumers, but rather at buyers. Still, both Fashion Week and Victoria’s Secret are designed to generate publicity for their brands.

It’s just interesting that the brand aimed at and consumed by predominantly teenage girls and women in middle America – the body type who overwhelmingly wear a size 12 in bras and undies – would be excluded from the show. Might the reason for the exclusion come down to an understanding of scarcity? For buyers at Fashion Week, a model with the measurements of an ordinary woman seems exotic. “Mon Dieu! It has breasts!” But for Victoria’s Secret, known as much for their “wings” as their fluffy slippers and polyester dressing gowns, a normal woman is their customer, and therefore deemed less-than aspirational.
But before we point the stick at Victoria’s Secret, we might want to look at how we view curve models themselves. Ashley Graham, Candice Huffine and Ruby Roxx are all at the height of their powers, collectively boasting more than six  million Instagram followers.

And yet, it appears that unlike the models of Victoria’s Secret, they consistently must remind us via their posts that they are either highly sexual or highly athletic.
Certainly, there is community service involved in their work. These women are making sure that any person not fitting into a size zero still feels worthy of desire and good health. But, increasingly, it appears that another tandem message is being projected, one of curve models only fulfilling two tropes: either they are sensualists, in bras and bikinis, and often nude, or they are “strong” and “fit”, at the gym or training for marathons.

Heaven forbid they upload a photo of themselves eating or lounging, as other non-curve models do. But Victoria’s Secret models have no need of this type of posturing, because nobody is trolling them, calling them fat or worthless; nobody is accusing them of slobbery.
And this dichotomy is at the heart of the lack of body diversity at Victoria’s Secret. If beautiful women with huge numbers of followers and endorsements, must go to these lengths to depict themselves as desirable or healthy, simply because they are not a size six, it’s a signal that hatred and general distaste of normal-looking women still abounds. How then, can ordinary women hope to embrace their own bodies? The short answer is, they can’t. And so Victoria’s Secret have concluded that if they want to sell a fantasy to women (a bizarre fantasy by the way,) they must omit the bulk of the population.
The problem is, it’s only a matter of time before the bulk decides it’s had enough.
And that’s why we will almost certainly see a curve model in wings next year.

By the Sydney Morning Herald

What say you slay tribe? Do you support bigger thigh models on the Victoria Secret Runway?