‘Sick and tired’: Robyn Lawley calls out Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show

Robyn Lawley has called out Victoria’s Secret once again, after the lingerie brand announced its fashion show will make a comeback.

Aussie supermodel Robyn Lawley has called out Victoria’s Secret once again, following the lingerie brand’s announcement that its once-coveted fashion show is set to make its comeback.

Appearing on the cover of Stellar, out today, Lawley – who first made headlines more than a decade ago for her trailblazing success in the fashion industry as a curve model – said she “rolled [her] eyes massively” at the news of the show’s return, after a four-year hiatus.

The annual televised event, launched in 1995, was sold to women as the epitome of female beauty for more than two decades – before it was axed in 2019, amid criticism ranging from cultural appropriation to the staunch hiring of models with a homogenous body type.

RELATED: Read the full interview with Robyn Lawley in Stellar

Lawley led a powerful call to arms ahead of Victoria’s Secret’s 2018 show, launching a global petition for women to boycott the label over its lack of inclusivity and diversity.

“Victoria (sic) Secret have dominated the space for almost 30 years by telling women there is only one kind of body beautiful,” she wrote at the time.

“Until Victoria’s Secret commits to representing ALL women on stage, I am calling for a complete boycott of this year’s Fashion Show. It’s time Victoria’s Secret recognised the buying power and influence of women of ALL ages, shapes, sizes, and ethnicities.”

Reflecting on her comments, Lawley told Stellar that the show is “making this pedestal for teenage girls”.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is ‘making this pedestal for teenage girls’. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret

“That’s why I said what I said. If you say that kind of stuff, as a model, you get black-listed – so it’s a hard line to walk,” she added.

“I thought, ‘Why didn’t they include curve [models] in the 2018 show?’ It was like they reverted to skinnier [models]. I was just furious.

“I knew girls who were going through [castings for the show], personal friends who were starving themselves; I knew the situation on an inside level. It was making me more angry. They weren’t fit and healthy, they were starving.”

‘My body size is still a challenge in this industry,’ Lawley said. Picture: Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images

‘I want [the modelling industry] to be more size diverse and age diverse.’ Picture: Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images

Lawley said she’s “sick and tired” of the lack of diversity on runways – a view shared by many at a moment when the number of curve models in the fashion industry is quite literally shrinking.

According to the Vogue Business Size Inclusivity Report, only 0.6 per cent of the looks shown throughout the entire AW23 season – which spans New York, London, Paris and Milan – were on plus-size bodies.

“I want [the modelling industry] to be more size diverse and age diverse … The day will come, I hope. My body size is still a challenge in this industry,” Lawley said.

'Your body is your house, basically. I’ve suffered so many health problems, nearly died so many times and woken up in [so many] hospitals that I don’t care about any stupid diet.' Picture: Instagram

“We have diversity, finally, included in those runways, but it’s like the token ‘curve’ girl. We wanted to see it levelled out – we’re wearing the clothes.

“I’m sick and tired of seeing these anorexic models sent down the runway. It’s not healthy and it’s not right.

“Your body is your house, basically. I’ve suffered so many health problems, nearly died so many times and woken up in [so many] hospitals that I don’t care about any stupid diet. It’s put my head in a different perspective.”

Read Robyn Lawley’s full interview in Stellar, available now in The Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Herald Sun and The Sunday Mail

Originally published as ‘Sick and tired’: Robyn Lawley calls out Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show