Victoria’s Secret rebrands with new stars Priyanka Chopra, Megan Rapinoe and Valentina Sampaio
Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, US footballer Megan Rapinoe and transgender model Valentina Sampaio have joined Victoria’s Secret as the embattled lingerie company undergoes a “dramatic shift”.
Known for its famous annual fashion show featuring some of the biggest names in the modelling world – including Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel, Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Lily Aldridge, over the years – the brand has recently faced accusations of sexism and criticism over a lack of diversity.
With the last catwalk show held in 2018, Victoria’s Secret has now announced an overhaul – including the introduction of a group of seven high-achieving women, called the VS Collective, who will advise the brand and appear in adverts, the firm has said.
The last Victoria’s Secret catwalk show, featuring models including Martha Hunt, Lais Ribeiro, Josephine Skriver, Sara Sampaio, Stella Maxwell and Romee Strijd, was held in 2018. Pic: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Karolina Kurkova, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima walking the famous catwalk in 2003. Pic: AP
As well as Chopra, 38, Rapinoe, 35, and Sampaio, 24, who has worked with the brand since 2019, the group also includes 17-year-old Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu, South Sudanese-Australian model Adut Akech, 21, photographer and media personality Amanda de Cadenet, 49, and plus-size model Paloma Elsesser, 29.
Chopra, who recently starred in the Oscar-nominated The White Tiger and is married to singer Nick Jonas, said they would be working “together to chart the path forward in a new and impactful way”.
She added: “I’m not only looking forward to developing future collections that are inclusive of all people but I am most excited for new customers and for those who have always been a customer of Victoria’s Secret to feel represented and like they belong.”
In a statement on Instagram, Sampaio said: “I am honored and grateful to partner with @VictoriasSecret as part of #TheVSCollective – along with women who I am so inspired by. We celebrate authenticity, community and love for all women.”
As part of the rebrand, Victoria’s Secret also announced The VS Global Fund for Women’s Cancers, which will aim to help find treatments and cures.
Model Paloma Elsesser and media personality Amanda de Cadenet (pictured below) have also joined the VS Collective. Pics: AP – zz/Elaine Wells/STAR MAX/IPx and Pizzello/Invision
The changes come in the wake of accusations the company focused on working with thin models rather than a broader and more representative range of body shapes.
The brand’s image has also been harmed by reports of a sexist corporate culture.
Chief executive Martin Waters said the new rebrand is “just the beginning”.
He said: “This is a dramatic shift for our brand and it’s a shift that we embrace from our core.
“These new initiatives are just the beginning. We are energised and humbled by the work ahead of us.”
Victoria’s Secret will split from parent company L Brands this summer, it was announced earlier this year.
Its former owner, Les Wexner, had stepped away from the board of L Brands amid scrutiny of his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Elon Musk has stepped up his attacks on Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill – weeks after a spectacular fallout between the world’s richest man and the US president.
Following weeks of relative silence after clashing with Mr Trump over his “big beautiful bill”, the billionaire vowed to unseat politicians who support it.
In a post on X, Musk said those who had campaigned on cutting spending but then backed the bill “should hang their heads in shame”.
He added: “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
Musk also threatened to put their faces on a poster which said “liar” and “voted to increase America’s debt” by $5trn (£3.6trn).
The posts attracted a swift reply from Mr Trump, who claimed the billionaire “may get more subsidy than any human being in history” for his electric car business.
“Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
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Elon’s dad on the Musk-Trump bust-up
Musk spent at least $250m (£182m) supporting Mr Trump in his presidential campaign and then led the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which sacked about 120,000 federal employees.
He has argued the legislation would greatly increase the US national debt and wipe out the savings he claimed he achieved through DOGE.
As the Senate discussed the package, Musk called it “utterly insane and destructive”.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said the bill’s massive spending indicated “we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!”
“Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,” he wrote.
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Musk previously said some of his social media posts during his dramatic fallout with Mr Trump “went too far”.
He had shared a series of posts on X, including one that described Mr Trump’s tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”.
He also claimed, in a since-deleted post, that the president appeared in files relating to the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
But Musk later wrote: “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”
In response, the president told the New York Post: “I thought it was very nice that he did that.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.
The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.
On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Donald Trump during a previous meeting. Pic: Reuters
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.
The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.
She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.
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The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.
An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.
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