维密首次启用变性模特，高管啪啪打脸

Can Victoria’s Secret climb out of the hole it has dug itself into? As we’ve reported, the brand’s hyper-sexualized marketing is not resonating with younger customers: Its sales and market share took a nosedive around the time the #MeToo movement emerged.

维密能从它自己挖的坑里爬出来吗？正如我们曾报道的那样，该品牌高度性感的营销活动没有引起年轻消费者们的共鸣：在#Me Too（我也是）活动期间，其销售及市场份额一落千丈。

But now it appears to be trying to be seen as more inclusive. Victoria’s Secret has just hired its first transgender model, Valentina Sampaio, who hails from Brazil. On Instagram, she gave her followers a glimpse into a behind-the-scenes shoot for the brand’s teen-focused Pink line.

不过维密如今似乎正努力使自己看起来更具包容性。维密刚从巴西雇用了该品牌的首位变性模特瓦伦蒂娜·桑帕约。瓦伦蒂娜在Ins上向粉丝们展示了该品牌面向青少年推出的粉色系列产品的幕后拍摄场景。

This comes just months after Victoria’s Secret’s CMO, Ed Razek, said in an interview with Vogue that he did not believe it would be appropriate to hire transgender models in its shows.

就在几个月前，维密的首席营销官艾德·拉泽克在接受《时尚》杂志的采访时表示，他认为在其模特秀上雇用变性模特是不恰当的。

“Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show?”

“你们的模特秀上不应该有变性人吗？”

“No,” he said. “No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy.”

“是的，”他说道。“我认为我们不应该雇用变性模特。为什么不应该呢？因为这样的模特秀只是一种幻想。”

These comments drew immediate criticism, including from supermodel Karlie Kloss, who announced that she would no longer be working with Victoria’s Secret. (Victoria’s Secret did not immediately respond to our request for comment.)

他的评论很快就遭到了批评，超模卡莉·克劳斯表示，她不再与维密合作了。（维密没有立即回复我们的置评请求。）

In the wake of these offensive comments, the hiring of Sampaio doesn’t seem like an act of inclusivity from an enlightened brand. It seems like an effort to catch up with more progressive competitors, which are winning over younger consumers by being more inclusive. Meanwhile, those competitors are continuing to grow. Lively, a three-year-old, direct-to-consumer brand founded by Michelle Cordeiro Grant, a former Victoria’s Secret merchant director, was just acquired by Wacoal for $85 million.

在发表了这样无礼的评论之后，雇用桑帕约似乎并不像一个开明的品牌彰显包容性的行为。这似乎是为了应对更多稳步发展的竞争者的一种尝试，而其竞争者因更具包容性而赢得了年轻消费者的青睐。与此同时，这些竞争者还在不断成长。三年前维密前商务主管米歇尔·科代罗·格兰特创立了一家直接面向消费者的内衣品牌Lively（充满活力）。该品牌刚被华歌尔（日本著名内衣品牌）以8500万美元的价格收购。

With Lively, Grant wanted to create a brand focused on comfort, inclusivity, and community—which could not be more different from Victoria’s Secret’s approach. It’s unclear whether Victoria’s Secret can rebrand itself quickly enough to keep up with the rest of the industry.

格兰特想通过Lively推出一个注重舒适性、包容性和社会性的品牌，而这与维密的策略截然不同。目前还不清楚维密是否能足够迅速地重塑品牌以跟上业内其他品牌的发展。

（翻译：Dlacus）