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Business

Victoria’s Secret debuts collection designed for women with disabilities

By
Shannon Thaler
Published Oct. 18, 2023, 3:25 p.m. ET

Struggling lingerie peddler Victoria’s Secret, which has long been lambasted for promoting impossibly slim models, launched its first collection of bras and panties that meet the needs of women with disabilities.

The line of undergarments — available at Victoria’s Secret and its sister brand PINK — is an inclusive take on the lingerie behemoth’s Body by Victoria and Wear Everywhere collections, the company said in a press release.

Dubbed the Adaptive Collection, it includes bras priced at $36.95 that have a magnetic front closure and front strap adjustors to accommodate customers with disabilities.

Matching panties that retail for $16.50 also boast magnetic closures at each hip.

One style called the Adaptive Period Bikini Panty is designed to be worn during menstruation.

Victoria’s Secret said it developed the collection in partnership with GAMUT Management, a talent agency exclusively representing people with disabilities, and nonprofit organization Runaway of Dreams, which works to make the fashion industry more inclusive.

Victoria's Secret and PINK launched the Adaptive Collection on Tuesday with bras and panties designed for women with disabilities.
Victoria’s Secret and PINK launched the Adaptive Collection on Tuesday with bras and panties designed for women with disabilities. VictoriaÂ’s Secret
Panties that retail for $16.50 boast magnetic closures at each hip, and one style called the Adaptive Period Bikini Panty is designed to be worn during menstruation.
Panties that retail for $16.50 boast magnetic closures at each hip, and one style called the Adaptive Period Bikini Panty is designed to be worn during menstruation. VictoriaÂ’s Secret PINK

Representatives for Victoria’s Secret did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Last week, the retailer said it expected sales to fall between 3% to 5% in the third quarter. The company’s stock is down 55% this year. Shares were up 4%, at $17.97, at Wednesday’s close.  

Victoria’s Secret is just the latest mainstream brand to cater to differently-abled consumers, though it’s behind the curve in the lingerie industry.

Rival Aerie launched a campaign titled Aerie Bras Make You Feel Real Good in 2018, where adverts featured women with physical disabilities and chronic illnesses, posing with crutches or in wheelchairs or displaying their permanent medical accessories like colostomy bags and diabetes monitors.

Also in 2018, Victoria’s Secret disbanded its impossibly slim Angels and only just began its quest to embrace bodies of all shapes, sizes and capabilities.

The size 0 waistlines and washboard abs that plagued Victoria’s Secret’s televised runway show were part of the reason its once-iconic annual fashion show — at least as fans knew it — was cancelled ahead of its 2019 edition.

However, Victoria’s Secret announced it was bringing back the famed spectacle after a four-year hiatus in a pre-taped film that hit Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 26.

In 2021, Rihanna’s ultra-inclusive Savage X Fenty’s intimates brand was a leader in this initiative when it hired a congenital amputee to wash the New York Fashion Week runway.

The Adaptive Collection includes bras priced at $36.95 that have a magnetic front closure and front strap adjustors to accommodate customers with disabilities.
The Adaptive Collection includes bras priced at $36.95 that have a magnetic front closure and front strap adjustors to accommodate customers with disabilities. VictoriaÂ’s Secret

Victoria’s Secret’s delay in becoming more inclusive could explain why the company has struggled with sagging sales in recent years, losing market dominance to the likes of Aerie, Savage X Fenty and Kim Kardashian’s Skims, which was recently valued at a staggering $4 billion.

The retailer generated $348 million in profits in 2022 — a sharp decline from the $646 million it made in 2021.