Kate Upton calls VS Fashion Show a snoozefest for not being body inclusive
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A couple of weeks ago, Victoria’s Secret hired its first openly transgender model, Valentina Sampaio, to do work with its PINK brand. Several commenters were complimentary to Valentina but said that Victoria’s Secret needs to go away already and/or that the company appears to be fading. Another person who recently expressed displeasure with the brand is model Kate Upon, who criticized the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show’s failure to be inclusive. On Watch What Happens Live she was asked about the rumors that there wouldn’t be a VS fashion show this year. You can see the video below and here’s what she said.
“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 otherwise it’s a snoozefest.”
Kate got rousing applause and cheers from the audience with her comments, and she corrected Andy Cohen, who didn’t realize that she had done work with Victoria’s Secret. I was curious to see when Kate had worked with the company, and in ETOnline’s story about this, the writer discusses awful comments that Sophia Neophitou, Victoria’s Secret’s casting director, made about Kate in an interview with the New York Times several years ago:
Upton and the lingerie brand have had some bad blood in the past. Back in 2012, Victoria’s Secret’s casting director Sophia Neophitou gave less than flattering comments about the model after she landed the 2012 Sports Illustrated cover, which catapulted her to fame. In an interview with The New York Times, Neophitou said Victoria’s Secret would “never use her.”
“She’s like a footballer’s wife, with the too-blond hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can go out and buy,” Neophitou said.
But the brand did end up using an old 2011 photo of Upton when she was under contract with Victoria’s Secret for a 2013 catalog, which she was obviously unhappy about, according to multiple reports.
[From ET Online]
I’m not shocked by this turn of events: Someone speaking for the brand bashed Kate as unsuitable for the Fashion Show in 2012. The next year, the brand used one of her photos in the catalog. The New York Times noted after reporting Neophitou’s comments that Kate “has, in fact, modeled on occasion for the company’s catalog,” allowing the reader to notice the obnoxious move at the time: Kate has been “good enough” for the catalog, but apparently is not “good enough” for the fashion show. Neophitou’s comments themselves are offensive and spiteful, so I’m also not shocked that for Kate, there’s no love lost for Victoria’s Secret. It makes sense that she’d use an opportunity to get a dig in at the brand while making a point about body inclusivity. That said, objectification is objectification. The Fashion Show never needs to find a place again on TV or the internet, no matter how inclusive it might end up being. While I’m glad that Kate is talking about this issue, I wish that the conversation would happen more often and in healthy, supportive spaces.
Here’s the video clip!
photos credit: Getty
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