Victoria’s Secret on the spotlight again for its diversity politics: chief marketing officer leaves

More doubts about Victoria’s Secret. The chief marketing officer of the American giant, property of L Brands, leave its position after more than fifteen years in the company. Ed Razek, of 71 years old, will leave its position at the end of August to retire.

Razek leaving happens a few months after the executive was caught in the middle of a scandal in which he opposed to the participation of transgender models in the mystical fashion show.

In fact, the fashion show might not happen this year, after the low rating in last years show. Ed Wolf and Bob Campbell, two marketing executives for the company will relieve Razek.

At the same time, more than one hundred models that are or have been connected to the brand, have asked John Mehas, current CEO of Victoria’s Secret, to add a real commitment to diversity and gender violence. The ongoing petition happened after some abuse cases from photographers linked to the company like, Timur Emek, David Bellemere and Greg Kadel saw the light, according to BoF.

Ed Razek stated at the end of last year the “Victoria’s Secret fashion show should have transgender models because the show is a fantasy”  

Last April, Moody’s lowered the qualification of the lingerie group, from stable to negative, due to the drop in sales compared to the last ten trimesters.

Victoria’s Secret it’s in the middle of a restructuration, not only in its business, but in its helm and in its corporate identity. In the last couple of years, the brand disconnected with its target customer, that doesn’t enjoy sexy or push-ups anymore.

At the end of last year, the company lost its CEO, Jam Singer, only two years after of taking the lead. L Brands, owner of brands like Bath&Body Works, grew 4.7% in 2018, up to 13.2 billion dollars. However, the group scored a net result of 643.8 million dollars, a drop of 34.4% compared to the same period last year.