Were the Victoria’s Secret Models Not “Fat Enough” ?

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show came back recently after years away, and somehow they still managed to disappoint people. The brand spent the last few years trying desperately to keep up with cultural demands, cancelling their iconic show, ditching the Angels, and scrambling to look progressive. When they finally returned to what once worked, critics immediately complained the models still weren’t “fat enough.” You can’t make this stuff up.

When Everything Fell Apart

Back in 2019, Victoria’s Secret pulled the plug on their famous fashion show and retired the Angels. The reason? Left-wing activists had been hammering them for years over “unrealistic body standards” and their portrayal of women. The company caved, thinking they’d win points with critics. Instead, they kicked off what insiders now call their “flop era”—sales tanked, the brand became irrelevant, and stores started closing.

The Collective Nobody Asked For

In 2021, Victoria’s Secret tried something new. They replaced the Angels with “The Collective,” a group of accomplished women focused on empowerment and advocacy. The line up included Priyanka Chopra Jonas, soccer player Megan Rapinoe, and other activists. The marketing talked about “genderless empowerment”, and inclusivity, merely ticking off boxes.

But the problem with that was that Victoria’s Secret Angels were never about activism. The original Angels were thin, aspirational supermodels wearing giant wings and sky-high stilettos. They represented fantasy, not a political statement. The Collective focused on sports achievements and social causes, which completely missed the point of why people watched the show in the first place. Media outlets and journalists openly mocked the shift as inauthentic corporate pandering. The CEO made grand statements about taking the brand on a “new journey,” but the core audience—the people who actually bought the products—felt abandoned.

When Brands Try Too Hard

Something companies keep forgetting is that brands exist to sell products, not as a harbinger of social movements. Victoria’s Secret’s activist pivot destroyed three things at once. First, they lost their iconic fantasy status that made them special. Second, sales dropped year after year as customers left. Third, they pushed away the loyal fans who actually enjoyed the original shows and bought the lingerie.

Marketing expert Camille Moore broke down exactly where Victoria’s Secret went wrong with four key points. They ignored the basic truth about their market—lingerie sells aspiration and fantasy, not empowerment speeches. They rejected their brand core by abandoning the “angel” fantasy that defined them. They catered to critics who never bought their products instead of listening to customers who did. And the sudden overnight change to activism felt desperate and fake. Long time fans who loved the fashion shows felt insulted, as if the brand was telling them their preferences were wrong.

The Comeback That Pleased No One

Victoria’s Secret eventually realized their mistake and brought back the fashion show with some of the iconic Angels. They tried splitting the difference—bringing back elements people loved while keeping some diversity and inclusivity to avoid criticism. The show pulled in over 15 million viewers, which counts as a partial win after years of disaster.

But the criticism kept coming anyway. Some activists complained the models still weren’t “fat enough,” pushing for what they called “plus-size representation” which in practice often meant glorifying obesity. This demand exposes the whole problem with trying to please everyone: aspirational fantasy and unhealthy extremes exist in completely different universes. Victoria’s Secret built their brand on fantasy and transformation. Asking them to feature severely obese models contradicts basic health standards and destroys the aspirational element that makes lingerie marketing work.

The Victoria’s Secret disaster teaches a simple lesson: stay true to your core audience. Brands that chase cultural trends and overcompensate for activist demands end up alienating the customers who kept them in business. Authenticity matters more than checking boxes on someone’s political scorecard.

Inclusivity has its place, and representing different body types makes sense within reason. But balance matters. A company cannot and should not try to satisfy every demand from every critic, especially when those critics don’t buy the products. Victoria’s Secret learned this lesson the expensive way—years of declining sales, closed stores, and a damaged brand reputation.

The fashion show’s return with 15 million viewers suggests people still want the fantasy, and aspiration the brand originally offered. Maybe Victoria’s Secret finally figured out that listening to actual customers beats pandering to activists who were never going to shop there anyway. Time will tell if they’ve learned their lesson—or if they’ll cave to the next round of complaints about models not meeting some arbitrary standard of being “fat enough.”