This week, Victoria's Secret uploaded a picture "with a difference" to Instagram.
At first glance, the image in question didn't look revolutionary. It showed Barbara Palvin, who was recently announced to be the newest Angel, leaning against a bar, while posing in camo underwear and a white top.
However, many fans out there insisted that if you compared her to the other models the company regularly uses, you would see a massive difference. To be precise, Barbara is curvier than the other stars, and many followers claimed they could finally see a Victoria's Secret Angel who had a body that looked more like theirs - something that, as everyone is well aware of, is incredibly rare with models.
After the photo became popular, gaining more than 800,000 likes on Instagram, dozens of people on social media asserted that this could mark a new era for the lingerie brand.
"So good to see a healthy looking, not anorexic model! Well done VS," wrote an Instagrammer going by the username of @marina_smelo. "At last! A real human body," added @_kedima_, while @l0gn0g heralded Barbara as "hands down the best angel you’ve chosen in a long time ✨".
However, it must be pointed out that although Barbara perhaps has more curves than the average Angel, the company has never included a plus-size model in their shows and has been accused of shunning inclusivity and diversity countless times in the past.
In late 2018, Ed Razek, chief marketing officer at the brand, attempted to explain exactly why he still refuses to use women larger than a size eight in the shows. He claimed that Victoria's Secret has considered it, but decided that the public has "no interest in it", adding that Victoria's Secret also runs a separate plus-size label, so there is no need to include the styles in the show itself.
"If you’re asking if we’ve considered putting a transgender model in the show or looked at putting a plus-size model in the show, we have," he told US Vogue. "We invented the plus-size model show in what was our sister division, Lane Bryant. Lane Bryant still sells plus-size lingerie, but it sells a specific range, just like every speciality retailer in the world sells a range of clothing. As do we."
He continued: "We market to who we sell to, and we don’t market to the whole world. We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes [in 2000]. No one had any interest in it, still don’t."
When he was further questioned why the brand's bra size range stops at 40DDD, his response became more controversial, with the chief marketing officer insisting that they didn't hire transgender models because the show should be a "fantasy".
"It’s like, why doesn’t your show do this? Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy," he said.
Razek was later forced to apologise for his "insensitive" comments and insisted that VS would "absolutely" cast a transgender model in the future.
His statement read: "To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model for the show. We've had transgender models come to castings... And like many others, they didn't make it ... But it was never about gender. I admire and respect their journey to embrace who they really are."
It's fair to say, the company has a long way to go when it comes to diversity and inclusivity.