Victoria’s Secret has called on a cast of former “Angels” to rescue the bedeviled lingerie brand.
The struggling retailer tapped supermodels Gisele Bndchen, Naomi Campbell, Candice Swanepoel and Adriana Lima to helm its new “The Icon Collection” campaign, the company said Wednesday.
Victoria’s Secret disbanded the impossibly slim Angels in 2018 as the company embarked on a mission to make the brand more inclusive.
However, overall sales have sagged the past couple of years and the company has lost market dominance to rivals Aerie, Rihanna’s ultra-inclusive Savage X Fenty and Kim Kardashian’s Skims, which was recently valued at a staggering $4 billion.
The retailer generated $348 million in profits in 2022 — a sharp decline from the $646 million it made in 2021.
The company suffered a net loss of $72 million in 2020 as COVID lockdowns shuttered malls.
Skims also beat Victoria’s Secret to an “Icons” campaign, when it released photos of supermodels Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio and Swanepoel — all former Victoria’s Secret angels — donning Kardashian’s shapewear apparel last April.
Representatives for Victoria’s Secret did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Despite being criticized over its very specific brand image, Victoria’s Secret kept its No. 1 spot as the top lingerie brand in 2022, according to consumer insights firm Brandessence Market Research.
The Ohio-based company’s new “Icon” collection, which also features Emily Ratajkowski and Hailey Bieber, centers around the lingerie brand’s new push-up demi bra, which was worn by supermodels Campbell and Swanepoel in a series of black-and-white photos shared to Victoria’s Secret’s social media pages on Wednesday.
The collection also includes panties, starting at $18.50, and slips and robes from $34.95 in sizes ranging from XS to XXL.
The centerpiece, the demi bra, will retail for $54.95 and ranges from 32A to 44DDD.
Despite the svelte waistlines seen in the campaign images, the collection’s size range is indicative of the brand’s move to get back in touch with its consumer base, who have bashed the company for being “tone-deaf” and slow to adopt more inclusive models and sizes.
“The collection was made to enhance one’s natural shape while staying true to the supportive and seamless look that we love,” Victoria’s Secret Chief Design Officer Janie Schaffer said in a press release.
“It’s an exciting, elevated collection to add to your wardrobe, while reinforcing that we are all icons.”
The size 0 waistlines and washboard abs that plagued Victoria’s Secret’s televised runway show were part of the reason the fashion show — at least as fans knew it — was cancelled ahead of its 2019 edition.
However, Victoria’s Secret announced it was bringing back the famed spectacle after a four-year hiatus in a pre-taped film that’s set to hit streaming services this fall.
This time around, there will be no “Angels” donning sparkly wings and instead has been teased as a showcase of women from around the world in a feature-length movie dubbed “Victoria’s Secret World Tour.”
Pieces in “The Icon” line will be featured in the upcoming show.
Victoria’s Secret, — which will release its second quarter earnings at the end of the month — posted net income of $1 million in the first quarter.
The figure was dismal compared to the $81 million in net income the brand brought in during the same period in 2022. Victoria’s Secret attributed the decline to its acquisition of fellow lingerie brand Adore Me for $400 million that was finalized in January.
Victoria’s Secret noted in its Q1 earnings report that the company’s second-quarter earnings will likely follow a similar trend.
Oasis have reunited on stage for the first time in almost 16 years – with brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher sharing a high five and the briefest of hugs as they closed a performance that for fans was more than worth the wait.
After the split in 2009, for many years Noel said he would never go back – and for a long time, as the brothers exchanged insults through separate interviews (and on social media, for Liam), it seemed pretty unlikely to ever happen.
But now, here they are. As they walked out on stage at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, all eyes were on the Gallaghers for a sense of their relationship – dare we say it, friendship? – now after all these years.
There was no reference to their fall-out or making up, but the gestures were there – lifting hands together as they walked out for the first time.
Image: The headline “OASIS REUNITED” was shown on stage at the gig. Pic: PA
Image: Fans at the Oasis gig. Pic: PA
Headlines and tweets of speculation and then confirmation of the reunion filled the screens as the show started. “This is happening,” said one, repeatedly.
In the end, it was all about the music.
Liam has received criticism in the past for his voice not being what it once was during his solo or Beady Eye performances, but back on stage with his brother tonight he delivered exactly what fans would have hoped for – a raw, steely-eyed performance, snarling vocals, and the swagger that makes him arguably the greatest frontman of his day.
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This was Oasis sounding almost as good as they ever have.
Image: Fans sang along and held up their phones to film as Oasis performed. Pic: PA
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2:56
Oasis: ‘It’s good to be back’
They opened with Hello, because of course, “it’s good to be back”. And then Acquiesce, and those lyrics: “Because we need each other/ We believe in one another.”
The song is said to be about friendship in the wider sense, rather than their brotherly bond and sibling rivalry, but you can’t help but feel like it means something here.
Over two hours, they played favourite after favourite – including Morning Glory, Some Might Say, Cigarettes & Alcohol, Supersonic and Roll With It.
Image: Liam Gallagher as Oasis takes to the stage in Cardiff. Pic: PA
In the mid-section, Liam takes his break for Noel to sing Talk Tonight, Half The World Away and Little By Little; the tempo slows but there is by no means a lull, with the fans singing all his words back to him.
Liam returns for hits including Stand By Me, Slide Away, Whatever and Live Forever, before sending the crowd wild (or even wilder) with Rock And Roll Star.
Image: Noel Gallagher performing on stage. Pic: PA
Image: An Oasis fan is pointing at the stage during the gig. Pic: PA
When the reunion announcement was made last summer, it quickly became overshadowed by the controversy of dynamic pricing causing prices to rocket. As he has done on X before, Liam addressed the issue on stage with a joke.
“Was it worth the £4,000 you paid for the ticket?” he shouted at one point. “Yeah,” the crowd shouts back; seemingly all is forgiven.
After Rock And Roll Star, the dream that very quickly became a reality for this band, Noel introduced the rest of the group, calling Bonehead a “legend”.
Image: Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs of Oasis. Pic: PA
Image: Liam Gallagher carried a tambourine in his mouth during the concert. Pic: PA
Then he acknowledges all their young fans, some who maybe weren’t even born when they split. “This one is for all the people in their 20s who’ve never seen us before, who’ve kept this shit going,” he says before the encore starts with The Masterplan.
Noel follows with Don’t Look Back In Anger, and the screens fill with Manchester bees in reference to the arena bombing and how the song became the sound of hope and defiance for the city afterwards.
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1:31
‘I’d have paid £10,000 to see them’
Image: Two fans sat on their friends’ shoulders as Oasis performed. Pic: PA
During Wonderwall, there’s a nice touch as Liam sings to the crowd: “There are many things I would like to say to you, but I don’t speak Welsh.”
It is at the end of Champagne Supernova, which closes the set, that it happens; Noel puts down his guitar, and they come together for a high-five and a back-slap, a blink-and-you’d miss it hug.
“Right then, beautiful people, this is it,” Liam had told the crowd as he introduced the song just a few minutes earlier. “Nice one for putting up with us over the years.”
From the roar of the audience, it’s safe to say most people here would agree it’s been worth it.
Gunnar Strömmer reportedly said that Swedish authorities had confiscated more than $8.3 million worth of criminal profits since a law related to seizures was passed in 2024.
13 people have been killed in the US state of Texas after heavy rain caused flash flooding, according to local media reports.
Officials have also said more than 20 are missing from a girls’ camp in Texas.
As much as 10 inches (25 centimetres) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.
Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in the county, confirmed fatalities from the flooding and dozens of water rescues so far.
A flood watch issued on Thursday afternoon estimated isolated amounts up to seven inches (17 centimetres) of rising water.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.