The chief marketing officer at Victoria’s Secret has apologised for remarks he made about transgender models.
Ed Razek, who is on the casting team, told Vogue magazine that the annual shows were “a fantasy” and “should not include transsexuals.”
He has now apologised for his remarks and said they were “insensitive.”
Asked by Vogue if the current Instagram generation were looking for “something new” from Victoria’s Secret, Mr Razek said: “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. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special. That’s what it is.”
When discussing whether Victoria’s Secret had considered using transgender and plus-size models and were putting more emphasis on diversity, Mr Razek said: “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 went on: “We attempted to do a television series for plus-sizes [in 2000]. No-one had any interested in it, still don’t.”
In his apology, Mr Razek, who was being interviewed by Vogue alongside the company’s executive vice-president of public relations, Monica Mitro, he said transgender models had come to castings but had not made the cut but that it was not about gender.
He said: “My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive. I apologise.
“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.”
Victoria’s Secret has been battling declining sales since 2016.
Author of the Lingerie Addict Cora Harrington criticised Mr Razek’s remarks and tweeted: “An 80 year old man owns the company and a 70 year old man runs it. And their archaic perspectives - on women, on gender, on plus size folks, on trans folks - are making VS a worse brand by the day.”
