Victoria’s Secret scrubs the Angels from its stores in revamp

When Victoria’s Secret’s three-story flagship in midtown Manhattan reopens at the end of July, it will be scrubbed of any evidence of its former pride and joy: the Victoria’s Secret Angels.The store, which has been closed since the pandemic hit in March of last year, is currently gearing up for a relaunch that will not include the company’s trademark framed photographs of supermodels looking as if they are in the throes of ecstasy while wearing the company’s lingerie.The construction crew hard at work on the store are also removing a museum-like homage to its Angels that has long occupied the store’s third-floor. The exhibit consisted of headless mannequins donning elaborate costumes (think Las Vegas showgirl meet S&M-obsessed fashion designer) from past Victoria’s Secret fashion shows.Customers can also bid farewell to the videos that ran on a constant loop on television screens of its fashion shows and interviews with models, a spokesperson confirmed.Located in the heart of a busy shopping district on Fifth Avenue near Rockefeller Center, the flagship is currently among hundreds of Victoria’s Secret stores undergoing major makeovers as the lingerie seller scrambles to revamp its image from a company that objectifies women to one that empowers them.In 2019, Victoria’s Secret scrapped its once popular fashion show amid backlash over its refusal to include women of different shapes and sizes. And it’s been slowly adding plus-sized models to its marketing materials since last year.

In its most dramatic move yet, the company recently announced that it has signed soccer star Megan Rapinoe, freestyle skier Eileen Gu and a slew of other accomplished women to help rebuild its brand. Other brand ambassadors include Indian actor and tech investor Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and plus-sized model Paloma Elsesser. Redoing the stores, which have largely looked the same since the mid-1990s, is a big and likely costly step in the process as the company gears up to be spun off from its parent company, L Brands, in August.