(Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Last week, Victoria's Secret's longtime CEO Sharen Jester Turney abruptly resigned from her position.
A release from parent company L Brands said that Turney was abandoning her role in order to focus on spending time with her family.
The company noted that L Brands CEO Les Wexner will assume responsibilities for Victoria's Secret.
The new CEO will have his or her hands full.
Since Victoria's Secret has risen to ubiquity in malls across the world, the universe has unleashed a generation of millennials, and now, Gen Z, who are surprisingly starkly different from their predecessors. They have little patience and zero brand loyalty.
What clicked for women decades ago is not the same today.
So Les Wexner — or whoever takes the helm of Victoria's Secret, should Wexner's tenure be temporary — might be wise to pay heed to some dramatic shifts in culture that could potentially harm Victoria's Secret if it chooses not to adapt.
For instance, beauty no longer knows a size.
Perhaps the only models scrutinized as closely as Victoria's Secret models might be those who bare nearly all in the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.
This year, curvy supermodel Ashley Graham not only graced the pages of the magazine, but she also covered one version of the issue, as though silently sending a message to retailers around the world that consumers — including the virile alpha males reading Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition — have evolved.
Beyond that, airbrushing is increasingly looked down upon.
(Aerie)
American Eagle's teen lingerie retailer, Aerie, has enjoyed a wave of positive press, and the reason is twofold: Its sales are exploding and its marketing resonates with young women.
The company has garnered praise for abandoning Photoshop, thereby encouraging women to embrace their flaws. The company's signature hashtag, "#AerieREAL," indicates that what's real is what's beautiful. Its spokesmodel is body-positivity activist Iskra Lawrence.
Victoria's Secret is infamously not judicious when it comes to using Photoshop.
(Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Victoria's Secret's famously fit models might not be viewed as aspirational anymore; women seek being happy with themselves — which doesn't necessarily mean pigging out on the couch all the time — but it means that thinness might no longer be the goal. People are working out for reasons other than obtaining a certain, specified body.