“Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons” Trailer Explores Jeffrey Epstein’s Connection to the Brand
Victoria’s Secret is getting its own documentary treatment. Titled “Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons,” the three-part docuseries detailing the lingerie empire’s rise and fall is coming to Hulu on July 14, after first premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 18. The streamer released a trailer for the series on July 7, one week before its debut.
According to the first look, the series will go behind the scenes of the brand’s meteoric success — from a $7.5-billion business — to subsequent downfall, specifically detailing the mysteries surrounding owner Les Wexner and his connection to Jeffrey Epstein. “There wasn’t a part of Wexner’s empire that Epstein didn’t have access to,” a former Victoria’s Secret executive said in the trailer.
“This is all a story that was meant to be hidden and stay hidden, and we were never supposed to see any of it.”
The show is directed by Matt Tyrnauer, an award-winning journalist known for directing documentaries exploring the life of Valentino Garavani and Studio 54. While the trailer doesn’t unveil any shocking information, the last few seconds certainly have us intrigued: “This is all a story that was meant to be hidden and stay hidden, and we were never supposed to see any of it,” one of the interviewees said.
Victoria’s Secret’s annual fashion show came to an end in 2018 after a 23-year run, with promises to evolve the brand’s messaging following years of criticism over its lack of body diversity. The show’s viewership dropped drastically then, when former CMO Ed Razek defended the lingerie giant’s problematic casting practices. When asked about the fashion show’s homogeneous model selection, Razek said “transsexuals” shouldn’t go down the VS runway “because the show is a fantasy.”
Since then, Victoria’s Secret has revamped its direction. In June 2021, the company announced it was no longer using the term “Angels” and was partnering with influential individuals across various industries instead, including Megan Rapinoe, Priyanka Chopra, Hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid, Eileen Gu, and Paloma Elsesser.
“Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons” joins a documentary examining another controversial fashion brand of the early aughts, “White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch,” which debuted on Netflix in April. See the trailer for the upcoming series above, and watch this space as we find out more about what it will entail.