The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, the annual, televised fashion soiree devoted to the best in lingerie and sleepwear, will not take place in 2019 due to declining business.
L Brands, the parent company of the lingerie retailer, officially canceled the 2019 show Thursday, USA Today reported.
“We’ll be communicating to customers, but nothing that I would say is similar in magnitude to the fashion show,” CFO Stuart Burgdoerfer said during the company's third-quarter earnings call. The brand said the decision was part of a move to “evolve the marketing of Victoria’s Secret.”
"Given the decline in performance at Victoria's Secret, we have substantially pulled back on capital investment in that business while we focus on ensuring that our merchandise resonates with customers," L Brands said in its Q3 earnings report.
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Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris
Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris
In May, company officials alluded to reenvisioning the show, which has run for the last 24 years and featured such supermodel icons as Tyra Banks, Stephanie Seymour and Heidi Klum.
Earlier this year, a memo from Les Wexner, L Brands chairman and chief executive, said the company had "decided to re-think the traditional Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Going forward we don't believe network television is the right fit," CNBC reported in May.
According to USA Today, the show’s ratings and reputation had been declining during the last few years.
The 2018 show's audience of 3.27 million viewers was the smallest since becoming a holiday season TV event in 2001, with Nielsen determining the show has lost more than half its television audience in two years.
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