The year—or the decade for that matter—won’t be closing with the 25th annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. It’s been cancelled after troubling sales quarters and fairly consistent criticism online. Now, people are celebrating.
Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Robyn Lawley (whose considered a plus size model) created a petition in October 2018 calling for a boycott of the brand. “As women I want us all to join together and say I AM enough, I AM beautiful, I AM unique and I WANT to see my body shape represented in your shows or I vow to never buy your product again!” Lawley wrote in the petition’s text and in the Instagram caption announcing the petition. (The petition urges signatories to tag Lawley and bra start-up/Victoria’s Secret Competitor Third Love.)
On Friday, Lawley posted a screenshot of the People magazine post about the show’s cancellation to Instagram. “Guess they didn’t use much diversity on their runway...thanks to everyone who signed the petition last year and thanks to @modelallianceny for your stance on model rights,” she wrote in the caption.
New York magazine’s women’s site The Cut posted about the news under the headline: “Oh, Thank God, It’s Over Now.”
When the cancellation was only rumor, model Kate Upton basically said good riddance, even though she’s modeled for the brand’s catalog. “You know what? We’re sick of seeing the same body type. You have to be body inclusive now. Every woman needs to be represented,” she said on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in August. “Otherwise, it’s a snoozefest.”
Former Angel Karlie Kloss (and new Trump-adjacent family member) quit the show as a part of her journey to be a better feminist. “I think that was a pivotal moment in me stepping into my power as a feminist, being able to make my own choices and my own narrative, whether through the companies I choose to work with, or through the image I put out to the world,” she told British Vogue.