This year, the Victoria's Secret fashion show, which is set to air on November 28 on CBS, had some show-stopping moments. Balmain was the chosen designer and debuted his Victoria's Secret line, making this the first ever show where some models strutted down the runway in full-length jackets. Veteran model Alessandra Ambrosio announced that this would be her very last show with Victoria's Secret and would be retiring her wings. But the the best thing about this year's show (we might be a little biased) was that this was the absolute blackest show in the history of the show's 20-year run.
Meet the 17 melanated models that stomped the runway today in Shanghai:
1.Lais Ribeiro
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Lais Ribeiro is this year's bearer of the 600 carat, $2 million dollar fantasy bra. The 27-year old Brazilian-born model is only the 4th woman of color to have such an honor.
2.Herieth Paul
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Herieth Paul is the 21-year old daughter of a diplomat and hails from Canada by way of Tanzania. The African beauty made her debut with Victoria's Secret in 2016.
3.Leila Nda
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Leila Nda is a 26-year-old Burundian beauty that also happens to speak six languages. This is her second time walking for Victoria's Secret.
4.Cindy Bruna
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23-year old Cindy Bruna was the first model of color to be the face of Prada and, in 2013, she made her debut walk for Victoria's Secret.
5.Maria Borges
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Maria Borges is the 25-year-old Angolan best known for breaking fashion barriers. She was the first ever black woman to walk for Victoria's Secret in 2013 with natural hair.
6.Alanna Arrington
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Alanna Arrington graced the VS runaway for the second time this year. At only 19 years old, this Iowa native is one of the youngest to walk in this year's show.
7.Lameka Fox
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Lameka Fox made her second walk this year with Victoria's Secret. The 19-year-old grew up in Maryland training horses with her father, who is a Standardbred horse racer.
8.Leomie Anderson
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Leomie Anderson is one of the more seasoned models this year, as this is her third year stomping the runway. She hails from London, England.
9.Zuri Tibby
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Zuri Tibby is a 22-year-old Florida native that started her career modeling for TeenVogue. This is her second time walking for VS.
10. Jasmine Tookes
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Jasmine Tookes is a 26-year-old California girl that is the daughter of celebrity stylist Carey Robinson. She draws her model inspiration from Tyra Banks.
11. Grace Bol
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Grace Bol made her debut stomp today and served up a beautiful bald head while she was at it. She was discovered at a mall in her hometown of Kansas City.
12. Alecia Morais
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Alecia Morais made her VS show debut this year. The 22-year old hails from Cape Verde.
13. Jourdana Elizabeth
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Jourdana Elizabeth is a Houston, TX native who walked her first Victoria's Secret show in 2016.
14. Aiden Curtiss
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Aiden Curtiss is multi-talented. Not only did the 19-year-old London native make her debut walk this year with Victoria's Secret, but she's also a skilled DJ and music producer.
15. Amilna Estevao
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Amilna Estevao is 18 years old and hails from Nigeria. She currently lives in New York City and hit the VS runway for the first time this year.
16. Samile Barmannelli
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Samile Barmannelli made her debut this year with Victoria's Secret. The 19-year-old Salvador native walked her first career show this year in Paris.
17. Dilone
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Dilone is the show's resident Dominican beauty. Originally from Long Island, NY, Dilone just goes by her last name (her first name is Mary) and made her VS runway debut in 2016.
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While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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