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.
A released Israeli hostage told a Hamas crowd he hoped to see his wife and daughters after his release – suggesting he did not know they had been killed on 7 October.
Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy were the latest hostages freed this morning in front of a crowd of heavily armed fighters.
Both Mr Ami, 56, and Mr Sharabi, 52, were taken from Kibbutz Be’eri during the 7 October attack. Mr Levy, 34, was abducted from the Nova music festival.
It was not known if Mr Sharabi was aware his wife and children had been killed by Hamas over a year ago. His Bristol-born wife Lianne Sharabi, along with their children 16-year-old Noiya and 13-year-old Yahel, were killed while Mr Sharabi and his brother Yossi were taken hostage.
Yossi was later killed while in captivity.
Mr Sharabi was paraded on a podium by armed Hamas personnel and interviewed before his release earlier today.
In one of his answers, which was clearly given under duress, he said he was hoping to see his wife and daughters very soon, according to translations provided by our US partner NBC News.
Image: Eli Sharabi. Pic: Reuters
Mr Sharabi also told the crowd he was aware of his brother’s death and said he was “very angry” with the Israeli government.
All three hostages made similar critical comments about Israel while on stage with the armed men.
The comments came as Stephen Brisley, Mr Sharabi’s brother-in-law, told Sky News presenter Anna Jones this morning that he wasn’t sure if he had found out about his family’s fate.
Image: Israeli hostages were paraded on stage before being released by Hamas. Pic: Reuters
“All the way through this, we’ve wondered whether what’s kept him going is the prospect of being reunited with Lianne and the girls,” he said.
He described his brother-in-law as looking “skinny” and “gaunt”.
“You could see how skinny he is, how pale he is. You wonder how much daylight he’s seen – very gaunt face,” he said.
“I think what struck me the most is that Eli has a very happy face, he smiles with his whole face and smiles with his eyes and it was the lack of light in his eyes that I think is one of the most distressing parts of it.”
Image: The hostages were reunited with family. Pic: IDF
Image: Israeli captive, Ohad Ben Ami waves as he is escorted by Hamas fighters. Pic: AP
Photos after his release showed Mr Sharabi reuniting with his wider family.
Image: Israeli captive Or Levy after his release. Pic: AP
Mr Brisley added: “You don’t know what the last 491 days have done to him, but it’s clearly had an incredible impact on him, and it was written all over his face.”
Image: Masked and armed Hamas fighters during the handover. Pic: AP
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We will not accept the shocking scenes that we saw today.”
Image: Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami, and Or Levy (L-R). Pics: Bring Them Home Now
In return for the captives’ release, 183 Palestinian prisoners were released – some of which were convicted of being involved in attacks that killed dozens of people.
A bus carrying several dozen Palestinian prisoners from Israel’s Ofer prison arrived in the occupied West Bank, where their families and friends were waiting.
Image: A Palestinian prisoner is checked by medical personnel after being released from an Israeli prison as a result of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Pic: AP
And in a statement later on Saturday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “dismayed to see his (Mr Sharabi’s) frail condition and the circumstances of his release”.
He added: “Having met his relatives I appreciate the deep pain they have endured and my thoughts are with them.
“We must continue to see all the hostages freed – these people were ripped away from their lives in the most brutal circumstances and held in appalling conditions.
The ceasefire must hold and all efforts need to focus on full implementation of the remaining phases. This includes the return of further hostages, the continued increase of aid into Gaza and securing lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Some 18 Israeli hostages and more than 550 Palestinian prisoners have been freed since the ceasefire began on 19 January.
Under the deal, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in an initial stage in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Negotiations on a second phase of the deal began this week. It is aimed at returning the remaining hostages and agreeing to a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in preparation to end the war.
It is feared US President Donald Trump’s proposal to move the Palestinian population out of Gaza so the US could take over could complicate the second and more difficult phase of the ceasefire.
Hamas’s cross-border attack into Israel saw around 1,200 Israelis killed and around 250 people taken hostage.
Since then Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 47,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
From the moment they stepped from the Hamas vehicle, to be seen alive for the first time in 15 and a half months, the three hostages were clearly gaunt and in poor health.
Reports in Israel say they have lost up to 30% of their body weight and they are in a bad medical condition.
Like previous hostage releases, they were humiliatingly paraded on stage but this time interviewed in front of the crowd, in a propaganda stunt for Hamas.
Eli Sharabi said he was looking forward to seeing his wife Lianne and two daughters again – he didn’t know that all three of them had been killed on 7 October.
Image: Pic: IDF
Image: The hostages were paraded on stage before their release. Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: IDF
His brother Yossi was also taken hostage but died last year in Gaza.
Israeli media is reporting that Or Levi was unaware his wife had been killed at the Nova music festival.
It has all caused a real feeling of shock and anger in Israel tonight and a new urgency to get all of the hostages home as quickly as possible.
Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted angrily, promising a response. The Israeli president has described it as a crime against humanity and the IDF point man for the hostages has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Any action by the Israeli government could threaten the ceasefire and therefore the release of more hostages. As the hostage families forum and Israel’s president have said, the most important thing is freeing all the captives and getting them home.
Many of the Palestinian prisoners are also returning home looking painfully thin and with stories of being beaten in detention. One prisoner had to be carried off the Red Cross bus by a medic from the Palestinian Red Crescent earlier today.
The Palestinian prisoners released today say they were forced to watch a video of the destruction of Gaza before they were freed.
But there has been a shift in tone and mood after today’s events and it’s unclear what happens next.
At least 41 people have died after a bus and a truck collided in southern Mexico, authorities say.
The bus, with 48 people on board, was travelling between Cancun and Tabasco when the accident happened near the city of Escarcega early on Saturday, according to reports.
Thirty-eight passengers on the bus as well as two of the drivers died, along with the truck driver, said officials in Tabasco state.
They also said that recovery work was continuing.
Image: Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: Reuters
Images from the scene showed the bus completely burned out following a fire after the collision. Only the metal frame remained.
Bus operator Tours Acosta said on Facebook that it was “profoundly sorry about what happened”.
It added that it was working with authorities to find out what happened and if the bus had been travelling within speed limits.
Javier May Rodriguez, governor of Tabasco, said on social media that the incident took place near Escarcega.
“We are coordinating with federal and Campeche authorities to provide the required assistance,” he said. “The secretary of government is closely following up on the situation.”
Ovidio Peralta, the mayor of Comalcalco, a town in Tabasco, said: “We are attentive to the federal and state authorities to help with whatever they request.”