After getting caught up in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, Victoria’s Secret has been performing major damage control in order to pivot away from their highly successful “sexy women in skimpy clothes” model – hiring their first transgender model in order to show how inclusive they can be in a #MeToo world, and accepting the ‘resignation’ of chief marketing officer Ed Razek – who came under fire last year for making derogatory comments about overweight and transgender models.
“We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes…No one had any interest in it, still don’t,” said Razek last November, who added when asked about transgender models “I don’t think we should…the show is a fantasy.”
Now Razek – a former Epstein pal – is departing the company, while Victoria’s Secret is embarking on a new, more inclusive phase of “sexy.”
Meet Valentina
With Razek out, Victoria’s Secret has hired 22-year-old Valentina Sampaio for their upcoming Victoria’s Secret Pink campaign after becoming the first transgender model to appear on the cover of Vogue Magazine in March, 2017 (Vogue Paris), according to CBS News
Born in Brazil, Sampaio was identified by a psychologist as transgender at the age of eight, and began calling herself Valentina at the age of 12. Despite getting fired from her first modeling gig at the age of 18, Valentina became a L’Oréal Paris spokeswoman before appearing on the cover of Vogue Paris.
“Of course she is very happy for it and she hopes that it shall continue to break barriers and to make a step to more inclusivity and representation for everybody,” said Sampaio’s agent, Erio Zanon.
Before the news about the Pink campaign was confirmed, the Brazilian model shared a photo and video of herself at a Victoria’s Secret photo shoot – it was history in the making. Several celebrities and fellow Victoria’s Secret models commented on the Instagram posts. –CBS News
Let’s see how the company’s new ‘inclusivity’ push affects the bottom line.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/33jdnkD Tyler Durden