The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is back and with some changes. After taking a hiatus from its hit televised runway presentation in 2018, the lingerie giant is back with its first-ever all-female performance lineup and inclusive casting.
Models Alex Consani and Valentina Sampaio made history on Tuesday night as the first trans models to walk the runway at the brand’s signature event. Of the 52 models in total, these matured a long-standing call for adoption on social media and completely reversed what former chief marketing officer Ed Razek said. In a 2018 Vogue interview, Razek said the brand considered casting a transgender model but decided against it.
“Shouldn’t we have transsexuals on the show? No, no, I don’t think we should,” he said. “So what? This show is a fantasy, so it’s a 42-minute entertainment special.” Within days of the interview being published, the brand released a statement in which Razek allegedly responded to the massive backlash.
“To be clear, we absolutely cast transgender models in our shows. We have had transgender models come to our castings, and like many others, , they couldn’t appear…but it was never about gender.” ”
In 2019, the brand tapped its first trans model, Valentino Sampaio, for the project. Sampaio is known as the first trans woman to appear on the cover of Vogue Paris magazine in 2017, appearing in images for the company’s VS Pink line. Within days, Razek’s retirement was announced. Meanwhile, Sampaio continued to shoot multiple projects for Victoria’s Secret, followed by other projects.
“I always dreamed of being on[Victoria’s Secret]because I’m a woman and I deserve to be there,” she told me in a 2020 cover story for Out. told. “I think it represents change. I think this brand shows the importance of diversity.” Following her came Emira DeSpain. The social media content creator signed a sponsored content deal with Victoria’s Secret in 2022, making her the first Black trans woman to work for the company.
In 2023, instead of a fashion show, the company treated fans to a special documentary-slash-show spotlighting various designers and artists from around the world: Victoria’s Secret: The Tour ’23. The project marks the most transgender presence to date, with talent including artist Edun Sodipo, DJ and producer Honey Dijon, and models Seval Omar and Alex Consani. Seval previously appeared in the brand’s Instagram posts. But it was all a precursor to last night’s show.
