If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.
“The Victoria’s Secret World Tour,” ” an event that will be half fashion show, half documentary on the brand’s reimagined runway show, takes place Wednesday, Sept. 26. You can stream the entire event, headlined by Doja Cat, on Prime Video.
The Victoria’s Secret World Tour Buy Now
In an interview with Harpers Bazaar, Doja confirmed she’s actively working on new music and will be performing tracks off her upcoming album for the event.
The Tour ’23 will showcase custom looks by four designers: Colombia’s Melissa Valdés Duque, Japan-based Jenny Fax, London-based Supriya Lele and Nigeria-bred Bubu Ogisi.
The new special will support parent company VS&Co’s Tour Impact Fund, which will partner with organizations that work to advance gender equality and uplift underserved and marginalized voices in the communities of the VS20. Priyanka Chopra-Jonas serves as an ambassador, mentor and advocate for the fund.
The Victoria’s Secret fashion show was officially canceled in 2018 with its final iteration having taken place in 2018. The documentary portion of the show is said to focus on the behind-the-scenes details of Victoria’s Secret’s first televised fashion show since the cancellation of its signature runway show which originally aired in 2001. When the cancellation was first announced, L Brands — the parent company of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works — stated they were aiming to “evolve the marketing” of the lingerie brand.
Something Victoria isn't keeping a secret? The impending return of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
The lingerie brand announced during their 2022 earnings conference call on March 3 that the runway show will be returning in 2023 after a four-year hiatus with some changes in place.
"We're going to continue to lean into the marketing spend to invest in the business, both at top of funnel," CFO Timothy Johnson said, "and also to support the new version of our fashion show, which is to come later this year."
Noting that this was the global brand's first full year as an independent public company, CEO Martin Waters addressed some of the initiatives Victoria's Secret has taken in recent months, including bringing in "more models and ambassadors of diverse sizes, ages abilities and identities."
News of the returning fashion event comes after the 2019 show was canceled. The year before, the 2018 runway show saw its lowest ratings of all time.
The day that event took place, Vogue published an interview with parent company L Brand's chief marketing officer Ed Razek that turned heads.
At the time, Razek was asked about Rihanna's Savage x Fenty show, to which he responded, "Everybody keeps talking about Rihanna's show. If we had done Rihanna's show, we would be accused of pandering without question."
But his words did not stop there.
"We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes [in 2000]," he added. "No one had any interest in it, still don't. It's like, why doesn't your show do this? Shouldn't you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don't think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It's a 42-minute entertainment special. That's what it is."
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret
Following the published piece, Razek, who has since resigned, issued an apology the next day.
"My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive," his statement on Twitter read. "I apologize. To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model for the show. We've had transgender models come to castings…And like many others, they didn't make it…But it was never about gender. I admire and respect their journey to embrace who they really are."
Months after the debacle, L Brands founder Les Wexner revealed in May 2019 that the company was reconsidering the fashion show.
"Fashion is a business of change. We must evolve and change to grow. With that in mind, we have decided to re-think the traditional Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Going forward we don't believe network television is the right fit," a memo read at the time. "In 2019 and beyond, we're focusing on developing exciting and dynamic content and a new kind of event – delivered to our customers on platforms that she's glued to … and in ways that will push the boundaries of fashion in the global digital age."
The Victoria's Secret fashion show officially returns for 2023 in the form of a video that's part documentary, part runway spectacular, available to stream on Prime Video as of Sept. 26. Titled "Victoria's Secret: The Tour '23," the reintroduction of the experience was first announced by brand CFO Tim Johnson during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call on March 3, according to USA Today. A Victoria's Secret & Co. spokesperson told POPSUGAR that the spectacle revolves around the new mission to champion women's voices, stating: "As we've previously shared, our new brand projection and mission will continue to be our guiding principle. This will lead us into new spaces like reclaiming one of our best marketing and entertainment properties to date and turning it on its head to reflect who we are today."
The cinematic presentation was commemorated in New York City on the evening of Sept. 6 with a showcase event that involved a pink carpet walked by the film's cast and musical performances by Doechii and Goyo. The film was teased with a 12-minute video that spotlighted the VS20 — a group of global creatives that constructed four fashion collections from Bogotá, Lagos, London, and Tokyo, inspiring a line that is now available to shop at VictoriasSecret.com and Amazon's VS storefront. Runway models such as Hailey Bieber, Candice Swanepoel, Naomi Campbell, Gigi Hadid, Adriana Lima, Emily Ratajkowsi, Paloma Elsesser, Lila Moss, and Julia Fox were filmed strutting down a dark catwalk in the pieces, which also incorporated one-of-a-kind archival looks from the lingerie giant. Doja Cat is also included in the Prime Video film as a musical guest.
Accessible in over 50 countries, the full feature film highlights VS's more inclusive and empowering future. Many members of the VS Collective, women who are pioneers of leadership in their fields, likely had a say in the casting process and accompanying campaigns, and were on the scene during the New York Fashion Week kickoff. Priyanka Chopra, Naomi Osaka, and Valentina Sampaio are three such examples.