By Sabrina Escobar

This year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was more than a glittery spectacle. It was the ultimate test of new CEO Hillary Super's turnaround plan, which has shown early signs of success.

With the stock down 25% this year despite Super's initial efforts, investors are hoping the brand's models, the Victoria's Secret Angels, can strut the brand back into relevance, boosting both sales and profit in the process. Early indications are that it may be working, though the challenge is significant.

The show, which aired Wednesday night, was the first fully curated under Super. She joined the company in September 2024, just a month before the brand relaunched the fashion show after a six-year hiatus.

The 2019 cancellation came amid declining viewership and sales, driven by criticism over the show's lack of diversity and promotion of "unattainable" beauty standards.

In the wake of the blowback, Victoria's Secret pivoted away from some of its sexier messaging toward safer ground, such as expanding its activewear collection, comfort-focused lingerie, and pajamas. The efforts still failed to revitalize the brand, and its parent, L Brands, spun it off in 2021.

Revenue fell about 8% from the fiscal year ended January 2022 through the year ended this January.

Super, who was hired from Rihanna's Savage X Fenty brand, is betting that going back to the company's "sexy" roots can turn the business around. She outlined her vision for the show and the company in a short note given to all in-person attendees Wednesday.

"Tonight's show means a lot to me -- and to all of us at Victoria's Secret," read Super's note, printed on sparkling pink paper. "It marks the beginning of a New Era of Sexy. Not one defined by a single look or mood, but by something deeper: the feeling of being truly comfortable and confident in your own skin."

The show delivered on its promise to return the brand to the sensual style that helped drive sales in the early aughts and 2010s, while also incorporating more diversity, said Matthew Jacob, an analyst at the research firm M Science, on a call with Barron's.

Many others on Wall Street agreed. "We attended Victoria's Secret's 2025 Fashion Show and came away encouraged by the company's strategic direction and product assortment, which was shoppable on Amazon," wrote Corey Tarlowe, an analyst at Jefferies. "With [management] leaning into newness across VS and PINK, we see share gain potential across core categories despite tariff headwinds."

Early data as of Thursday morning suggested the fashion show was streamed more than 10 million times on YouTube, Tarlowe wrote, a sign that the brand was regaining its strength.

TD Cowen analyst Jonna Kim was equally encouraged by the show, saying it marked another year of "encouraging execution and culturally relevant moments" that will drive consumer interest in the weeks before the holiday season.

Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist at Hightower Advisors, said she doesn't expect the fashion show to be a game changer. It is, however, a good platform for the company to showcase its new products and the creative vision behind the brand, she said.

"Turnarounds take a long time, and this one won't be different, but last quarter's results were encouraging," Link wrote in emailed comments to Barron's. Victoria's Secret second-quarter sales grew 3% year over year to $1.5 billion.

Shares of Victoria's Secret closed 0.7% lower at $30.19 Thursday.

Unsurprisingly, people online were more divided.

Some praised the casting of supermodels such as Adriana Lima, Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, and Jasmine Tookes -- she opened the show while nine months pregnant -- as well as the return of bouncy bombshell blowouts in lieu of last year's sleek, slicked-back hairstyles. Yet others criticized the show's decision to cast social media influencers alongside the models, or the lack of the bright, whimsical outfits that dotted the runway in the show's heyday.

But pleasing the internet is a near-impossible feat. As M Science's Jacob noted, social media reactions aren't necessarily the best measure of an event's success. The 2024 fashion show received significant criticism online, but M Science's data suggest that spending at Victoria's Secret jumped nearly 21% in the month following the show.

"Clearly the fashion show is a nice driver for sales," Jacob said.

Yet Victoria's Secret is by no means out of the woods. Most analysts still rate the stock a Hold or a Sell, noting that the improvement in sales in 2024 could make it hard for the company to show impressive growth this year.

Tariffs also remain a risk for the company, which imports a large share of its bras. The higher levies could put outsize pressure on margins, and undermine any sales improvements stemming from marketing initiatives like the fashion show, said Mari Shor, senior equity analyst at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. Those concerns have hammered the stock this year.

"[Tariffs are] the only reason why I stay more cautious on Victoria's Secret because I think that you're already starting to see some of the product and marketing initiatives bear fruit and drive that top line inflection that honestly we've been waiting for for a while," Shor said.

Write to Sabrina Escobar at sabrina.escobar@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 16, 2025 16:17 ET (20:17 GMT)

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