Victoria’s Secret Chadstone forced to fix fitting rooms after shoppers left exposed

Victoria’s Secret has been forced to alter its Chadstone fitting rooms after a mum realised shoppers getting changed could be secretly spied on.

Lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret has been forced to alter one of its fitting rooms after a mum raised concerns that people standing outside them could secretly see those getting changed inside.

Concerned mum Angela took her teenage daughter to Victoria’s Secret at Chadstone Shopping Centre in late March and waited outside a fitting room door while the 14-year-old tried on clothes.

But the mum was soon horrified when she noticed a “glossy black” panel, located above the gap used to pass clothes through, was reflecting an image of her naked daughter.

“I looked up at the door frame and I got a full view of her body,” Angela, who did not want her surname published, said.

Victoria’s Secret’s fitting rooms were closed by management but reopened within days.

“Everything was visible from the waist up.

“It was a bit of a shock for me. I looked twice … like how is this working?”

The mum voiced her concerns to Victoria’s Secret management, who told her they had escalated her complaint to the “leadership team” and were granted permission to close the Chadstone fitting rooms “indefinitely”.

But the global lingerie chain reopened them without making any changes.

Chadstone Shopping Centre co-owner Vicinity Centres last week intervened to force the retailer to amend its changing rooms to get rid of the reflection.

“When we became aware of the issue we worked directly with the retailer to ensure it was resolved,” a Vicinity Centres spokesman said.

The black panels above the fitting room doors acted as a reflective surface before they were altered.

The black panelling is a feature of Victoria’s Secret stores.

The Herald Sun understands that before the store opened on Wednesday, handymen had to be brought in to alter the fitting room and, cover the glossy panels with matte vinyl.

Angela said that there was “no chance” her daughter would have given her or anyone else permission to see her naked body, noting that girls under the age of 18 would have been at risk of being viewed by strangers.

“People just shouldn’t have their bodies viewed by others, especially without knowing and without consent,” she said.

Victoria’s Secret retail assistants do not often allow partners, friends or family members to wait outside the fitting room doors, but Angela said she insisted she be allowed to be close to her daughter.

It is not known whether this policy had been implemented to prevent members of the public from glancing up at the reflective panel and being able to see inside a fitting room.

“(But) the workers can stand out there and see everything, you wouldn’t know,” Angela said.

The Herald Sun understands that other Chadstone shoppers have raised similar concerns about the fitting rooms with Victoria’s Secret management in the past.

Victoria’s Secret was contacted for comment.