As lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret adds more women to its modeling roster, they’ve begun doing events to introduce the new ladies to the public. The Daily Mail caught up with two of the new models, Elsa Hosk, 26, and Jac Jagaciak, 21, and the subject of plus-sized VS Angels arose:
According to Victoria’s Secret’s latest crop of models, it certainly is. Newly-minted models Elsa Hosk, 26, and Jac Jagaciak, 21, revealed to Daily Mail Online that they ‘hope’ to see a more curvy-figured woman modeling for the world-famous lingerie brand, with Polish model Jac noting that, as the fashion industry has finally started to embrace larger ladies, it can only be a matter of time before Victoria’s Secret follows suit.
‘I think the whole world is more open to plus-size[models] and I am sure at some point they will be ready for it,’ she said, while promoting the brand’s new Body by Victoria collection in Times Square on Tuesday.
‘We don’t know,’ Elsa added when asked whether she expects to see a plus-size Angel strutting her stuff on the runway sometime soon. ‘I really hope so.’
And Elsa added that Victoria’s Secret Angels embraces diversity and hires models from across the globe, noting that the brand has never been afraid to celebrate what makes a woman unique.
‘Right now there are a lot of Angels represented,’ she said. ‘We are from all over the world. We come from different backgrounds. We all had different lives before this, so it is really interesting how a lot of different nationalities are represented and it is super cool.’
Victoria’s Secret’s new Body range certainly speaks to a more diverse audience, with sizes ranging from A to DDD cups and XS to XL, with Elsa, adding that the variety is sizing is ‘amazing’. [source]
Now, I will say this – VS has lately been doing this weird thing – well, weird for VS, that is – where the models in their full-size ads in the store windows are not completely flat-tummied. The brand notorious for having women so photoshopped in their ads that they are missing fingers, whole arms, and sometimes a leg, has somehow managed to begin to allow women with visible skin folks when they’re leaned over – you know, the anatomically correct way – or even a cute little belly for a standing woman. It feels like excruciatingly slow progress, but it’s progress, nonetheless.
That being said, Victoria’s Secret has been one of many brands that only markets to women in a roundabout way. It’s not about appealing to the desires of women, it’s about creating desires in men, positioning themselves as the gatekeeper of “what men want” – since men want women in diamond encrusted bras and bedazzled panties, or something? – and then using that to appeal to women. If women believe this is what their ideal partner is vying for, this is what they will aspire to – and, as we all know, all it takes is a few million dollars worth of marketing to convince someone to believe something or do something.
So, would it be good to have women who aren’t the traditional petite size modeling for VS? Of course it could.
But.
This is delicate territory. When they [inevitably] choose a size 8 to represent their ‘larger models,’ does it run the risk of offending size 8s everywhere? Does it run the risk of alienating the plus size community, to know that double-digit-sized women are being represented by a size 8? I mean, VS’s sizes don’t extend beyond a traditional size 14-16, so when we’re talking “plus size,” are we really talking “plus?” Or does this mean VS needs to start expanding to the plus market?
What do you think?
Read more: