Criticism of Victoria's Secret: former models Romee Strijd and Frida Aasen turned down
Days before the show in Los Angeles, two former runway models of the brand say they were rejected at casting. Social media users are debating the brand's casting choices.
Archive image · Photo: YantsImages / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Dutch model Romee Strijd will not be part of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on 18 October. The 31-year-old was named an "Angel" by the brand in 2015 and walked in five consecutive shows until 2018. In two TikTok videos on 12 October, she said she had prepared all summer and flown to New York for the casting in early September. She then heard nothing for five to six weeks. Her agency eventually told her the brand thought she "wouldn't fit in the show this year". According to The Daily Beast, Strijd said: "I don't like the way I was treated"; she does not intend to take part in future castings.
Norway's Frida Aasen, 31, who walked for the brand in Shanghai in 2017 and in New York in 2018, also confirmed a rejection. Under Strijd's video she wrote, according to Fashion Times: "I also went to the casting, and it was a no." Victoria's Secret has not publicly explained its decisions; a request for comment from The Daily Beast went unanswered before publication.
Some users online called for a boycott of the show. Critics accuse the brand of favouring influencers and the children of famous parents; The Daily Beast cites Amelia Gray, daughter of Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin, who is walking again. At the same time, according to the report, several long-standing "Angels" are returning: Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel and Elsa Hosk.