The curtain falls on the 2015 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, taped yesterday in New York City: as we wait for the official video, that will be broadcasted on December 8th on CBS, we believe it is time for a juicy review of the runway show… MsD’s style of course!
You gave the word ‘Angel’ a different, yet iconic meaning, as you began to name your ambassadors after it: models became household names thanks to that, allowing them to turn into real fashion legends like Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks or Miranda Kerr, just to name a few. Unique models, with equally unique personalities and yes…Unique genes.
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2003 Victoria’s Secret fashion show with the former Angels: Karolina Kurkova, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum and Gisele Bundchen (Adriana Lima, on the right, is still an Angel) |
Everybody loves the Angels, everybody wants to become an Angel.
We don’t want to go there again, because we have already discussed it earlier, but what is the point of having 15 Angels, if you don’t have the time to give each one of them a star-moment?
We’ll carry on speaking of the models: the final cast counted 47 models, for just 75 outfits and 46 wings (4 of them recycled… A new low for Victoria’s Secret). Sorry, we don’t get the strategy here: what’s the point of having 15 official ambassadors (10 brand new) if you don’t give them most of the outfits? Why would you hire 32 extra models, most of which are newcomers?
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Candice Swanepoel 2011 vs Izabel Goulart 2015; Romee Strijd 2015 vs Adriana Lima 2013 |
Don’t get us wrong, we love to see new girls getting the chance to walk in the show, but if this means giving Candice Swanepoel (one of the most amazing bodies in the industry, the present and the future of your own brand) just 2 outfits out of 75, then you are doing it wrong! Thanks to this massive number of models, none of them got 3 outfits for the first time in recent years. Call me old fashioned, but I would never get tired of seeing Adriana Lima with 3 different outfits! In conclusion, there were way too many models and no hierarchy: the show was a hell of a mess!
Who? Kendall, of course.
We are shocked that top models like Izabel Goulart, who worked for the brand for years, still have to prove to deserve a place in show by training all year and attending the castings.
And what about those big names who were left out? Jourdan Dunn, Isabeli Fontana, Toni Garrn?
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Toni Garrn and Jourdan Dunn |
What about rising stars like Imaan Hammam or Kelly Gale?
Also Blanca Padilla didn’t get through the casting, even though she had proved her value at last year’s show and on VS recent photoshoots… So why wasn’t she casted? Because, if the reason has something to do with what she had said about Gigi’s statement on body shaming, this is bullying. Her response was an objective critic to the fashion industry’s double standards and rules, therefore we hope this is not the reason. (Even though you stopped casting Jessica Hart because she dared to say she did not like Taylor Swift’s music).
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Kelly Gale and Blanca Padilla |
Models aside, what really makes the show are the thematic sequences where all the outfits actually come alive. But before starting with the review: Bravo to Brian Atwood who designed all the shoes featured on the runway… My wordrobe claims all the boots!
When we first heard about it, our brains started to be filled by thousands of question marks, like:
-is this going to be a Coachella inspired segment?
-could this be a hint on Behati Prinsloo wearing the Fantasy Bra, since she is the boho/rocker spirit of the brand?
Well, the first intuition was right as much the second was wrong… Even though she opened the show like last year.
Fringes, leather, chaotic prints and suede boots made their appereance on the runway, showing to the world what a love child between Victoria’s Secret and Coachella would look like.
This was not an easy subject, because the risk of delivering trashy outfits was really high… And in fact, aside from a few outfits, the rest was a mess.
The VS team tried to explore the world of butterflies in terms of colors, textures and shapes… Just like the Birds of Paradise segment back in 2013: few memorable pieces followed by many predictable ones.
Cristals’ applications, sheer pannels, furs, and snowflakes: I believe this is going to become a signature segment for Victoria’s Secret… It is either this or they are seriously running out of ideas.
They promised us a luxurious section with a sporty touch, and they nailed it: some models walked down the runway looking like snow queens!
Another classic if you like: dusty colors for the most intimate yet feminine segment.
It would have been great to see all the 15 angels walk in it all togheter, but it’s difficult to invest in such intuitions if the main ambassadors have just 2 outfits each in the entire show.
Finally a decent theme for the youthful collection!
The VS team played the patriotic card this year, dressing the models as living American references: just like Miranda Kerr wore the Statue of Liberty’s crown during the 2007 Pink segment, this year we got Taylor Hill wearing the American flag, Josephine Skriver turning into a sexy police officer… Ok it is starting to look costumy, but way better than last year.
The most ambitious theme, where the execution of the outfits was really crucial: the VS team turned its segnature wings into Catherine wheels… Made of feathers, of course! They really focused on showcasing vivid colors and statement jewels: among the best looks Alessandra Ambrosio’s fuchsia-green number and Cindy Bruna’s insane catsuit. Maybe our favourite segment, if it wasn’t for the Fantasy Bra’s presentation…
MUSIC ACTS
Performing at the show is something that every singer/artist looks forward to, because it allows them to reach a really wide public. The VS stage welcomed artists like Usher, Justin Timebrlake or The Black Eyed Peas just to name a few.
As we reported, this year the brand was expecting Rihanna, The Weeknd and Selena Gomez to take the stange with the models. Everything sounded promising (even though we were not sure to hear brand new songs from Rihanna) until, exactly one week before the recording date, Riri was cancelled from the show and no explanation was given: not very professional from either party. Our guess? Adele came back on the music scene and Riri decided to postpone her (still) upcoming 8th album and call off her performance at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Therefore Ellie Goulding became the last-minute replacment of the biggest star.
As much as we respect all of them, we questioned the overall effect of the line-up: do all their songs sound good togherer? Well, it seems like they all tried to do their best to fit into the show. Anyway we still believe that Tinashe and Jason Derulo could have been a stronger option.
We also didn’t like the choice of letting Ellie Goulding and Selena Gomez perform with normal outfits, that didn’t match the corrisponding theme. In the previous years, female artists like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, etc. had custom made outfits matching the show. It seemed like Victoria’s Secret didn’t pay much attention to detail this year!
Why on earth would you spend $2 milions to create a display bra that doesn’t fit your model? That was already noticable in the promotion photos.