The Victoria’s Secret rebranding has received a mixed response, especially from industry insiders who deemed the brand’s gesture an unabashed commercial move. And now, model Bridget Malcolm who has walked quite a few shows for the controversial label has taken to Tik Tok to slam the lingerie retailer and has called their allyship to women ‘performative.’ The Australian model also revealed that while she walked the runway in both 2015 and 2016, she was later rejected from their 2017 show when she wasn't the same bra size.
The brand was widely criticised for the culture of misogyny and unhealthy body standards it had cultivated and has also steadily lost touch with their younger buyer base as people continue to flock towards more body-positive brands.
“I found my bra from the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. It is a size 30A. I am now a size 34B, which is healthy for me," Malolm shared on Tik Tok. “I was rejected from the show in 2017 by [former CEO] Ed Razek. He said, 'My body did not look good enough.' I was a size 30B at that point,” she added.
Victoria’s recently announced a major pivot as it is doing away with its long-standing tradition of ‘angels’ walking the runway in fantasy bras and has roped in a diverse line-up of noteworthy women from showbiz, sports and culture to be the faces for the brand, like Priyanka Chopra, inclusivity advocate Paloma Elsesser, soccer star Megan Rapinoe and more.
Malcolm had first spoken out against Victoria’s Secret in 2018 when she revealed that she was put on an 800 calorie diet at one point; she also shared that she was assigned an unhealthy nutrition chart, and was made to feel bad about her body. The model slammed the brand for its new approach to empowerment, which she thinks does not undo the damage it had caused over the years. "Victoria's Secret, your performative allyship is a joke,” Malcolm said