Victoria's Secret backlash over trans and plus-sized models is a 21st century labour dispute
Victoria's Secret CEO Jan Singer has resigned after two years in the job in a storm of controversy.
Part of the reason for her departure was the declining financial performance of the company, but the immediate cause was a public relations crisis brought on by the models and influencers the brand depends on.
It all unfolded over a week. On Thursday, November 8, marketing director Ed Razek gave an interview to Vogue ahead of the recording of the Victoria's Secret fashion show.
In it he confirmed what many suspected: that Victoria's Secret would not feature transgender or plus-size models in its fashion show, arguing that their brand was based on fantasy and being "politically correct" wasn't part of their brand.
This provoked a swift backlash across digital and social media, where Mr Razek was condemned for displaying an out of touch attitude.
Teen Vogue published critical interviews with transgender models Carmen Carrera and Leyna Bloom and plus size model Tess Holliday on Saturday 10 November.
Later that evening, Victoria's Secret issued an apology, but it was too late and the pile-on continued. In the days that followed, even some "ultra-influencers" got involved.
Kendall Jenner, the daughter of trans icon Caitlyn Jenner and who starred in the show herself, posted "celebrate trans women" to her 98 million Instagram followers.
Rihanna, who has previously sung in the show, was seen by some of her 65 million Instagram followers to have liked a screenshot of this tweet from plus model Louise O'Reilly.
The backlash, for a company so dependent on its brand, was all too much.
By the end of the week, word was out that Ms Singer was stepping down. Whether the company will change course remains to be seen.
Models — the workers — can strike back
It might not appear so at first glance, but this incident was a 21st century labour dispute.
Victoria's Secret's executives are the boss, and models and influencers are their workers, and the workers decided to take a stand on what they saw as discrimination.
Indeed, the pushback was aided and to a degree co-ordinated by The Model Alliance of New York, a tiny labour advocacy group fighting for models' rights, along with the Time's Up movement.
Workers want a voice at work. Research shows this is a largely unmet desire among US workers. Even models, who in the US have never had a union, still want a voice.
A social media storm hits the bottom line
The other take-away here is that social media criticism is not mere venting, and the brand damage it inflicts can impact the bottom-line. It's better for a company to listen than to try to "ride out" these kinds of crises.
Indeed, Victoria's Secret's tone deafness is arguably the reason why their sales are in a slump to begin with.
Changing demographics and markets mean the all straight, all thin line-up of the Victoria's Secret fashion show is not as appealing as it once was.
If the company continues to hunker down, as it well might, the winner will be the likes of Rihanna's Savage X Fenty label, that go out of their way to be more inclusive.
The models don't really mind if that's how it plays out. One benefit of being freelancers is that they aren't invested in any one employer, the work will always be there.
Victoria's Secret may continue to decline but lingerie marketing in general is not going away any time soon.
Michael Walker is a PhD candidate at UTS Business School researching worker voice in nonstandard employment.