Bella Hadid joins VS Collective, a group of ambassadors of various backgrounds who hope to take Victoria’s Secret in new directions.
Bella worked with Victoria’s Secret for years and was one of the models who came forward with allegations of inappropriate conduct from Ed Razek, a former executive of Victoria’s Secret parent brand.
The partnership’s announcement was made via Instagram, where Victoria’s Secret official account uploaded a photo of Bella, captioning it, “We are thrilled to announce advocate, entrepreneur, and model @bellahadid as our newest #VSCollective Member. She will join an ever-growing group of trailblazing partners who share a common passion to drive positive change.”
“[Joining the VS Collective] was really about taking my power back and having the power over my body be released to myself again.... I think the beauty of what Victoria‘s Secret is as a collective is about the conversation. All of us together, Paloma [Elsesser], Adut [Akech], when we sit on set, we’re just grateful for how we feel supported now, instead of how we used to feel,” said Bella in an interview with Marie Claire.
VS Collective is now made up of a variety of prominent figures, from models, to actresses, to athletes. Its roster includes Hailey Bieber, Priyanka Chopra, Naomi Osaka, Megan Rapinoe, and more. “I just look around [on set] and I feel empowered again. I feel empowered in lingerie, instead of feeling like my body is some sort of money maker,” said Bella.
Her plans with the brand are extensive and she sounds excited about coming up with new ideas alongside her friends and collaborators, which might even include designing some items. “I don‘t think shooting lingerie in general is comfortable for anybody—I want to make that very clear. It’s not something that comes easy to anybody,” she said. “What we want to do is really come in, hopefully with another collection that we‘ll design, [and] have it be really cool and comfortable and fun and sexy.”