Handmaiden Topiary Trees Are Preparing A Holiday WH Invasion In Hopes Of A National Do-Over

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Melania Trump wants the nation to celebrate a holiday invasion of morbid, blood-sucking topiary trees devoid of magic or inspiration. What she doesn't understand is each topiary houses a Handmaid's Tale activist seeking REVENGE on her husband.

Remember the Trojan War from Greek History when ODYSSEUS and his men entered Troy in the wooden horse? Well, when all those blood-sucking trees start moving towards The Donald while he chows down on cheese burgers in bed, even FOX News won't be able to help him. Trump is terrified of germs (TRUTH not satire) so imagine his heartfelt response when he looks up and sees that he is under attack by an invasion of blood-thirsty topiary trees, each carrying a living, breathing, ranting Handmaiden seeking justice. Sweet! ~ Anne

For the real story on yet another Melania Trump style flop, read about America’s joyous holiday decorations at Vanity Fair.

Mississippi Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith Celebrates Mississippi Confederacy At Every Opportunity

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“I ENJOYED MY TOUR OF BEAUVOIR. THE JEFFERSON DAVIS HOME AND PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY LOCATED IN BILOXI,” HYDE-SMITH WROTE IN A CAPTION ON THIS PHOTOS POSTED TO HER FB PAGE IN 2014. DAVIS WAS THE CONFEDERATE PRESIDENT DURING THE CIVIL WAR. HIS FORMER ESTATE NOW SERVES AS A MUSEUM AND LIBRARY IN HIS HONOR.

“THIS IS A MUST SEE,” HYDE-SMITH WROTE. “CURRENTLY ON DISPLAY ARE ARTIFACTS CONNECTED TO THE DAILY LIFE OF THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIER INCLUDING WEAPONS. MISSISSIPPI HISTORY AT ITS BEST!”

Mississippi Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith Celebrates Mississippi Confederacy At Every Opportunity

U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith attended and graduated from a segregation academy that was set up so that white parents could avoid having to send their children to schools with black students, a yearbook reveals. Hyde-Smith enrolled her own daughter at Brookhaven Academy, another Mississippi segregation school founded in 1970, the Jackson Free Press reported.

The latest race-related battle around Tuesday’s Mississippi Senate race with Democrat Mike Espy follows a recent leaked tape in which Hyde-Smith said that she would gladly attend a “public hanging” is one of her supporters invited her. The statement was outrageous, given Mississippi’s history as the lynching capital of the United States.

One of the most famous lynchings in Mississippi was the savage and brutal death of 14-year old Chicago child Emmett Till.

Hyde-Smith is very proud of Mississippi history and has no hesitation to celebrate the segregated south, saying that the Confederacy represents “Mississippi history at its best.”

I thought of Hillary Clinton, when reading this story. At considerable personal risk to herself, then 24-year-old law student Hillary was working for Marian Wright Edelman, the civil rights activist and prominent advocate for children. Mrs. Edelman had sent her to Alabama in 1972 to help prove that the Nixon administration was not enforcing the legal ban on granting tax-exempt status to so-called segregation academies, the estimated 200 private academies that sprang up in the South to cater to white families after a 1969 Supreme Court decision forced public schools to integrate.

Hillary posed as a young wife, telling the guidance counselor of a seg school that her husband had just taken a job in Dothan, that they were a churchgoing family and that they were looking for a school for their son.

Like many white activists from the North who traveled south to help on civil rights issues, Mrs. Clinton confronted a different world in Dothan, separate and unequal, and a sting of injustice she had previously only read about.

Third Love Lingerie's Heidi Zak Pens Open Letter To Victoria's Secret After Razek Interview

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THIRDLOVE CEO HEIDI ZAK (L); L BRANDS CMO ED RAZEK (R)

Third Love Lingerie's Heidi Zak Pens Open Letter To Victoria's Secret After Razek Interview

The fallout from L Brands CMO Ed Razek’s now infamous Vogue interview in advance of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show continued with the publication of ThirdLove's co-founder and co-CEO, Heidi Zak’s open letter to Victoria’s Secret, published in Sunday’s New York Times.

In a long list of frankly stupid comments from a smart man I worked with for years, Razek cited his small but mighty ThirdLove competitor in the lingerie space, saying “We’re nobody’s ThirdLove, we’re their first love.” Pissed off people protested over Razek’s arrogance, particularly in view of Victoria’s Secret and PINK’s current death spiral in revenue. It was not a moment to give women and men one more reason not to shop Victoria’s Secret at the critical holiday season.

TOMS Shoes Launches Anti-Gun Violence Campaign With $5 Million Donation + Background Checks Campaign

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TOMS Shoes Launches Anti-Gun Violence Campaign With $5 Million Donation + Background Checks Campaign

TOMS’ Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie is expanding his already legendary activism and philanthropy. The recent deadly shooting that left 13 dead in Thousand Oaks, Calif grabbed Mycoskie’s brain, telling him thoughts and prayers for yet another mass shooting in America, weren’t cutting it.

The shoe company is well known for its “One for One” program (you buy a pair, they give a pair), which has expanded now to also providing safe water and eyeglasses to communities in need. TOMS has never engaged in political action.

 Mycoskie made a $5 million dollar donation on behalf of his Los Angeles-based company to a diverse coalition of anti-gun violence organizations, making it the largest public corporate donation toward gun violence in America’s history.

In addition to the donation — which benefits organizations like March for Our Lives, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action, among others — Mycoskie launched a Toms campaign called "End Gun Violence Together," aimed at engaging citizens with the gun violence epidemic in America.

The initial focus is a call for universal background checks before a gun is sold. The initiative is supported by 90% of Americans but not Trump’s Republican Party. Jimmy Fallon filled out his postcard on Jimmy Fallon’s ‘The Tonight Show’ Monday night, with Tom’s producing an actual postcard w/the sender’s name and zip code. I just filled out mine.

TOMS’ retail stores and social media are also part of the project and will become advocacy centers.

Emily Ratajkowski Launches M / RATA Lingerie On Nov. 22, Adding Another Wound To Victoria's Secret

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Emily Ratajkowski Launches M / RATA Lingerie On Nov. 22, Adding Another Wound To Victoria's Secret

Victoria’s Secret is about to get another lingerie sector challenger with the announcement that Emily Ratajkowski is launching a new lingerie line called M / RATA in a collab with Blush Lingerie. Ratajkowski’s new baby will make its debut on November 22, 2018 just in time for the holidays.

M / RATA lingerie is committed to ethical manufacturing under the Blush umbrella, reflecting the growing demands and concerns especially among younger consumers. The rules governing its manufacturing practices are posted on the company’s website.

M / RATA by Blush is also committed to size inclusivity, a topic that haunted Victoria’s Secret once again after the brand’s recent, tone-deaf Vogue.com interview by VS pros Ed Razek and Monica Mitro.

Robyn Denholm, A Chairwoman Co-driver for Elon Musk at Tesla

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Robyn Denholm, A Chairwoman Co-driver for Elon Musk at Tesla

By Isabelle Chaboud, Associate Professor of Financial Analysis, Audit and Risk Management, Grenoble School of Management (GEM). First published in The Conversation la France.

Robyn Denholm, 55, was officially named on November 7, 2018 to replace the iconic Elon Musk as chairman of the board of Tesla, the US electric vehicle manufacturer. Why this choice ? Is it announcing a desire to profoundly reform a governance questioned by certain investors? Can she tame the whimsical boss? And can she really play her role independently?

The appointment comes in the wake of the SEC's sanctions against Elon Musk after the famous tweet of August 7, 2018, in which the automaker's boss said he planned to withdraw Tesla from the $ 420 stock market with guaranteed financing. Elon Musk had been fined $ 20 million and resigned as chairman of Tesla's board of directors. A function that he has been prohibited from exercising for at least three years. While some investors and stakeholders may welcome the separation of power between the CEO and the new Chair of the Board, others may see a new blow of communication and ask questions about the real independence of Robyn Denholm.

Why Robyn Denholm?

Adut Akech Says Even As Richest Model In The World: "I Will Still Be A Refugee. I Am A Refugee."

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Adut Akech Says Even As Richest Model In The World: "I Will Still Be A Refugee. I Am A Refugee."

It’s been a phenomenal time for Adelaide, Australia’s rising star model Adut Akech. Launched as a Saint Laurent exclusive beginning in September 2016, she became the second black woman to ever close a Chanel fashion show, finding herself center stage with Karl Lagerfeld in the Chanel Haute Couture Fall 2018 presentation. In between these major fashion career milestones, Adut was center stage in Tim Walker’s 2018 Pirelli calendar, with its first all-black cast.

Now the former refugee finds herself on the cover of Vogue Australia’s December issue, in a feature about her life, her friends and family, even her school. Adut is also one of four models covering separate issues of British Vogue’s December issue.

Full stop. Back up Anne. Adut Akech corrects you, telling CNN:

“Even if I become the richest model in the world I will still be a refugee. I am a refugee.”

AOC doesn’t care about Adut’s favorite makeup tips. Backstage snaps of Adut at a runway show are not our motivating life force. Her family life and history as a South Sudan refugee in Adelaide, Australia do get our attention, and Adut’s Vogue Australia December cover editorial adds rich soil to her personal global story.

How We Arrived At A $1 Billion Annual Price Tag To Save Africa’s Lions

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How We Arrived At A $1 Billion Annual Price Tag To Save Africa’s Lions

By Luke Hunter, Chief Conservation Officer of Panthera, Research Associate, University of KwaZulu-Natal Research Fellow; originally published on The Conversation

A billion dollars. That’s approximately what it would cost, to save the African lion. That’s a billion dollars each year, every year into the foreseeable future.

The startling price tag comes from a calculation we did, starting with a new database we compiled of available funding in protected areas with lions. To our knowledge it’s the most comprehensive and up-to-date database of its kind.

Protected areas are the cornerstone of conservation yet we found that most of Africa’s extraordinary parks face grave funding shortfalls. Parks without funding often become protected in name only. Their staff, including the rangers and guards on the frontlines, simply cannot function without funds that pay for working equipment, rations, petrol and to keep the electricity running. Sometimes even salaries go unpaid.

Using the conservation needs of lions as a proxy for wildlife more generally, we compiled a dataset of funding in Africa’s protected areas with lions and estimated a minimum target for conserving the species and managing the areas effectively.

'See Know Evil' Documentary By Charles Curran Revisits Davide Sorrenti Story & Rise Of Heroin Chic

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'See Know Evil' Documentary By Charles Curran Revisits Davide Sorrenti Story & Rise Of Heroin Chic

On May 20, 1997, Amy M. Spindler wrote for the New York Times about the fatal heroin overdose of the promising young photographer David Sorrenti, 20. Spindler questioned the degree of complicity the entire fashion industry embraced in the advancement of the trend known as ‘heroin chic’.

Unlike the music industry, which has rallied with interventions and programs to get musicians off drugs, or the film industry, where known users have been subjected to drug tests for insurance on movies, the fashion industry has done little to combat the problem among the young in its ranks. The only event mounted to commemorate Mr. Sorrenti's death was a photo exhibition in his memory, called the ''Art of Fashion Photography,'' at a Flatiron district studio during March fashion week in New York. The drugged-looking photos from Detour were on view at that show.

In May 1997, President Clinton denounced the American fashion industry for cynically abusing teenagers and helping spread heroin usage to a new and younger group of people. “Some fashion leaders are admitting flat-out that images projected in fashion photos in the last few years have made heroin addiction seem glamorous and sexy and cool," President Clinton stated. “And as some of the people in those images start to die now, it's become obvious that is not true. The glorification of heroin is not creative, it's destructive. It's not beautiful, it is ugly. And this is not about art, it's about life and death. And glorifying death is not good for any society.”

As his name implies, Davide Sorrenti came from a family of photographers including his mother Francesca, his older brother Mario and sister, Vanina — “the Corleones” of fashion photography according to Francesca. His girlfriend and muse at the time Jaime King had her own struggles with heroin use, writes Models.com.

A key reason for the Naples-born Sorrenti family coming to New York in the early 1980s was Davide’s painful blood condition, Cooley’s anemia. The disease required frequent blood transfusions and caused the young Sorrenti to look even younger than his age.

Last week Charlie Curran premiered his seven-year-in-the-making documentary “See Know Evil”, a film attempting to tell Davide’s story, at Manhattan’s SVA Theatre, A second screening was held Thursday night, November 15.

Eye: Beyoncé's Parkwood Entertainment Buys Out Sir Philip Green's 50% Stake In Ivy Park Amid #MeToo Claims

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Eye: Beyoncé's Parkwood Entertainment Buys Out Sir Philip Green's 50% Stake In Ivy Park Amid #MeToo Claims

Earlier this week, Ivy Park, the sporty brand owned by Beyonce and Sir Philip Green, the chairman of the conglomerate of Arcadia, that owns Topshop, released its Resort 2019 lookbook.

Behind the scenes, choppy waters threatened to capsize the business love boat, as Green was named as the man center stage in Britain’s newest high-profle #MeToo story. In spite of a court-ordered gag order, Lord Peter Hain, a member of Parliament, named Green in the House of Lords, saying felt it was his “duty under parliamentary privilege to name Philip Green as the individual in question given that the media have been subject to an injunction preventing publication of the full details of this story which is clearly in the public interest.” He also said the allegations were of a “serious and repeated” nature and he had them heard from someone “intimately involved in the case.” via The Cut.

The Telegraph has spent the past eight months investigating Green’s multiple accusations of sexual harassment, racially-based abuse, bullying, and misuse of non-disclosure agreements to hide his misdeeds.  

Hours ago on Thursday Novembefr 15, Beyoncé’s Ivy Park became solely owned by her company Parkwood Entertainment, after she acquired Green’s 50 percent share of the label, launched with Green in 2016. The BBC reports have been that activists — including Equality Now — have been pressuring Beyoncé’s camp to divest from the partnership, pointing out her avowed allegiance to feminist principles.

“Beyoncé has put herself forward as a women’s rights activist. She and her team need to look closely at these allegations,” Equality Now’s Yasmeen Hassan told the BBC in October.

Another activist, Nimco Ali, said: "Beyoncé should say 'I don't want to work with Philip Green'."

Eye: Karly Loyce Fronts Khaite Resort 2019 Lensed By Hanna Tvelte

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Eye: Karly Loyce Fronts Khaite Resort 2019 Lensed By Hanna Tvelte

Model Karly Loyce is styled by Gabrielle Marceca for Khaite Resort 2019 lookbook, lensed by Hanna Tveite.

Parsons School of Design graduate Catherine Holstein founded Khaite in 2015 following a major endorsement from legendary Barneys New York buyer, Julie Gilhart, who picked up her junior thesis collection. After working with brands like Maiyet, Vera Wang, and GAP, Holstein launched Khaite, pronounced “Kate,” referencing the Greek word meaning "long, flowing hair.” The women's ready-to-wear collection finds confidence in contrast: of masculine and feminine, strength and softness, structure and fluidity, classic and modern. Each piece proposes a fresh balance of opposing elements while embodying a signature sensuality and ease. See more of the Khaite Resort 2019 Collection.

Gisele Bundchen Talks Being A Beekeeping Eco-Warrior Lensed By Zee Nunes For Vogue Brazil October 2018

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Supermodel Gisele Bundchen gets up close and personal in the October 2018 issue of Vogue Brazil. In two of her four covers, the Brazilian goddess poses with her mother Vânia and — eureka! — in a beekeeper’s uniform. Pedro Sales styles the Brazilian earth goddess in images by Zee Nunes.

Gisele is a long-time eco-activist, serving as a goodwill ambassador to the UN’s Environment Programme. In her July 2018 Vogue US cover story, the model reveals that gardening and beekeeping are core ways that Gisele focuses on teaching her children — Ben, age eight, and Vivian, age five—to cultivate a close relationship with nature.

While living a very rich life, Gisele only keeps things she truly treasures, like a Balenciaga jacket she’s had since she was 17. Committed to living minimally, Gisele sends to her clothes to her sisters, in order to keep living as minimalist as possible. “People think they need more stuff, but no. Start with the simple principle of waking up in the morning and asking, ‘What makes my life possible?’ It’s such a simple question. The air I breathe, the soil I step on, the food I eat, the water I drink, the sun that makes me happy,” Gisele explains. “If we understand that our survival depends on the Earth and really appreciate all those gifts, maybe we can show a bit more care. Fashion is a trillion-dollar industry. We have the means. We just have to want to do it.”

Michelle Obama In Dior Talks With Oprah About 'Becoming' For ELLE US December 2018

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Michelle Obama In Dior Talks With Oprah About 'Becoming' For ELLE US December 2018

Former First Lady Michelle Obama is styled in Dior, Cushnie, Sally LaPointe, Ann Demeulemeester and more by Meredith Koop for images by Miller Mobley for ELLE US December 2018. As Michelle launches her massive, sold-put book tour around the publication of ‘Becoming’, her buddy Oprah sits down with the beloved American icon for the interview ‘Michelle Obama Is Still Optimistic’.

There are multiple passages to share, but we’ll go with the toast story. Michelle explains:

So here I am in my new home, just me and Bo and Sunny, and I do a simple thing. I go downstairs and open the cabinet in my own kitchen—which you don’t do in the White House because there’s always somebody there going, “Let me get that. What do you want? What do you need?”—and I made myself toast. Cheese toast. Then I took my toast and I walked out into my backyard. I sat on the stoop, and there were dogs barking in the distance, and I realized Bo and Sunny had really never heard neighbor dogs. They’re like, What’s that? And I’m like, “Yep, we’re in the real world now, fellas.” It’s that quiet moment of me settling into this new life. Having time to think about what had just happened over the last eight years. Because what I came to realize is that there was absolutely no time to reflect in the White House. We moved at such a breakneck pace from the moment we walked in those doors until the moment we left. It was day in and day out because we, Barack and I, really felt like we had an obligation to get a lot done. We were busy. I would forget on Tuesday what had happened on Monday. I forgot whole countries I visited, literally whole countries. I had a debate with my chief of staff saying, “You know, I’d love to visit Prague one day.” And Melissa was like, “You were there.” I was like, “No, I wasn’t. Wasn’t in Prague, never been to Prague.” She had to show me a picture of me in Prague for the memory to jog. So the toast was the moment that I had time to start thinking about those eight years and my journey of becoming.

Michelle Obama has been unusually open in her book ‘Becoming’, sharing among many stories the one about her miscarriage and conceiving both Malia and Sasha through IVF. Michelle talks at length about the challenges of the Obama marriage, cemented in the differences that have been overcome with much hard work and a deep love. In dramatic contrast to the image we have of Donald Trump, Michelle shares this vision of a late night, young man Obama — life before stardom.

Adut Akech Covers Vogue Australia December 2018 With In-Depth Look At Life + Family

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Adut Akech Covers Vogue Australia December 2018 With In-Depth Look At Life + Family

It’s been a phenomenal time for Adelaide, Australia’s rising star model Adut Akech. Launched as a Saint Laurent exclusive beginning in September 2016, she became the second black woman to ever close a Chanel fashion show, finding herself center stage with Karl Lagerfeld in the Chanel Haute Couture Fall 2018 presentation. In between these major fashion career milestones, Adut was center stage in Tim Walker’s 2018 Pirelli calendar, with its first all-black cast.

Now the former refugee finds herself on the cover of Vogue Australia’s December issue, in a feature about her life, her friends and family, even her school. Adut is also one of four models covering separate issues of British Vogue’s December issue.

Jillian Davison styles Adut, with photography by Charles Dennington. Alice Birrell conducts the interview.

Ethiopia's Woman President Sahle-Work Zewde Joins Progressive PM Abiy Ahmed To Level Gender Playing Field

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Ethiopia's Woman President Sahle-Work Zewde Joins Progressive PM Abiy Ahmed To Level Gender Playing Field

By Yohannes Gedamu, Lecturer of Political Science, Georgia Gwinnett College; originally published on The Conversation Africa

Since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took over from Hailemariam Desalegn in April 2018, Ethiopia has experienced a rapid pace of political reforms. So far, save for the unfortunate incidents of ethnic violenceacross the country, the changes made by the new administration have been nothing short of breathtaking.

Under Abiy’s leadership, a historic peace deal was reached with neighbouring Eritrea. At home, his administration has freed all political prisoners while also promising to reform some of the country’s harsh laws.

In addition, the new premier has also vowed to transform the country’s state-led economy by outlining a proposal for the partial privatisation of Ethiopia’s state enterprises. Privatisation would open up opportunities for competition, and raise funds for the country’s major development programs.

Most recently Abiy’s ongoing political reforms have included the recognition of Ethiopia’s female leaders. He has taken great strides to ensure that woman are represented in Ethiopia’s political landscape. The last four weeks in particular have seen spectacular breakthroughs. These ranged from cabinet appointments to women being chosen as president, chief justice and press secretary to the prime minister. All unprecedented – in Ethiopia as well as the continent more broadly.

Gemma Arterton Talks 'The Escape' As A Harper's UK 'Woman of the Year', Lensed By Richard Phibbs

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Gemma Arterton Talks 'The Escape' As A Harper's UK 'Woman of the Year', Lensed By Richard Phibbs

Actor Gemma Arterton is among Harper’s Bazaar UK’s ‘Women of the Year’, featured in the December 2018 issue. Gemma is styled by Miranda Almond with images by Richard Phibbs. /Hair by Perrine Rougemont; makeup by Anita Keeling

Arterton began as a Bond Girl, but now dedicates herself to playing strong female characters with a story to tell, writes Juliet Nicolson.

Writing about Arterton’s new film ‘The Escape’, Nicolson describes a moment in this ordinary, young wife’s morning.

Her boorish husband Mark, superbly played by Dominic Cooper, just doesn’t get her. He loves her in his own selfish, on-the-brink-of-abuse way, a relationship that Arterton says is ‘past its sell-by date’. Physical satisfaction is a one-sided process in Mark’s favour. The opportunity for a woman to say no to sex does not present itself easily within marriage, the backlash too great to risk. So Arterton’s Tara gives in to early-morning ‘conjugal rights’; in one agonising scene, she splays the fingers of one hand behind Mark’s back, stretching upwards in a silent yell of despair. As the camera lingers in an unforgiving close-up on Tara’s face, devoid of cosmetic gloss, the subtlest shift of expression reflects an inner despair, then her full beauty emerges when a rare smile illuminates her face, a curtain drawn back, sunshine flooding a darkened room. But the script belongs to the actors. Arterton found improvisation liberating and exciting. ‘It is up to you to react, and that can change everything in a moment.’ The transition she makes from acting the part to being the part is seamless. It is a brave, disturbing, profoundly moving piece of cinema. As the Guardian reviewer said, in a film with ‘no wrong notes’ it was also ‘unbearably painful’. When I saw The Escape alone, in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day, I was grateful for the cover of dark glasses even before I emerged into the street.

By contrast, in Arterton’s next film ‘Vita and Virginia’ scheduled for a spring 2019 release, she plays Vita Sackville-West against Elozabeth Debicki’s Virginia Woolf.

'Fearless Girl' Wears A Bulletproof Vest, The Newest Fashion Must-Have For Students Of All Ages

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'Fearless Girl' Wears A Bulletproof Vest, The Newest Fashion Must-Have For Students Of All Ages

Wall Street’s beloved ‘Fearless Girl’ got a makeover in advance of Tuesday’s election — and days before this week’s slaughter of 12 mostly young people in a shooting late Wednesday at a bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Artist Manuel Oliver gave New York’s most famous symbol of women’s empowerment some extra armor last Friday, dressing her in a bulletproof vest broadcasting the hashtag #FearfulGirl.

Oliver’s son Joaquin ‘Guac’ Oliver was murdered along with 16 other victims in the Valentine’s Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

“She can’t be fearless if she’s afraid to go to school,” wrote Change the Ref, Oliver’s pro-gun control nonprofit, on Twitter, about the rebranded “#FearfulGirl.” The organization is dedicated to using “urban art and nonviolent creative confrontation to expose the disastrous effects of the mass shooting pandemic,” according to its website.

Supermodel Adriana Lima Hangs Up Victoria's Secret Angel Wings After 2018 VS Fashion Show

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Adriana Lima announced her retirement from Victoria’s Secret after walking her 18th and last fashion show at Manhattan’s Pier 94. Her Instagram post was a sweet goodbye.

Victoria’s Secret Angel, Brazilian beauty Adriana Lima is hanging up her wings after two decades and 18 fashion shows with the brand. Lima shared the news on her Instagram following Thursday night’s taping of the annual show.

The name Adriana Lima is almost synonymous with the Victoria’s Secret brand, and Lima is so devoted to its success that she famously walked the runway in 2012, just five weeks after giving birth.

"Dear Victoria, Thank you for showing me the world, sharing your secrets, and most importantly not just giving me wings but teaching me to fly. And all the ❤️ to the best fans in the 🌎! Love, Adriana 💖"

Victoria’s Secret sent Adriana out with a bang, devoting a whole segment of her final VS runway walk to her. Making a solo walk down the runway against the backdrop of a video montage of her spectacular VS career, tears broke when Victoria’s Secret gave her a sign to carry that read, "Thank you to the best Angel of all time." 

Victoria’s Secret Angel Adriana Lima says goodbye. via Vogue.com

Lima’s departure comes a year after the retirement of fellow Brazilian sister Alessandra Ambrosio, who retired her wings after 17 years after the 2017 fashion show. With multiple challenges for the brand dominating its current status, the departure of Adriana Lima is one more data dot in projecting the Victoria’s Secret future.

The early read on VS execs Ed Razek and Monica Mitro’s online Vogue interview “We’re Nobody’s Third Love, We’re Their First Love”—The Architects of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Are Still Banking on Bombshells is not great. The Cut wrote: This Interview With the Minds Behind Victoria’s Secret Is . . . Really Something.

I know both Ed and Monica and have articulated my own thoughts on Victoria’s Secret many times. It’s a moment for reflection before saying anything else right now about Victoria’s Secret. Meanwhile, we share a look back at Adriana Lima’s career to date. There’s no doubt that she has an exciting future ahead of her.

Naomi Campbell Is 'Wild At Heart' In Chris Colls Images For Vogue Arabia November 2018

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Naomi Campbell Is 'Wild At Heart' In Chris Colls Images For Vogue Arabia November 2018

Supermodel Naomi Campbell is styled by Jenke Ahmed Tailly in ‘Wild At Heart’, lensed by Chris Colls for Vogue Arabia November 2018./ Hair by Ro Morgan; makeup by Pat McGrath

Naomi is interviewed by Selina Julien in a look back at her stellar, three decades career. She was “the first black model to appear on the cover of Vogue Paris in 1988 and on Vogue US’s coveted September issue in 1989 – the 1.78m Londoner has been paving the way for the next generation in her own imitable style.” Adding to the reflection as a then exec at Victoria’s Secret, I can say that Naomi was the first black model to appear solo in marketing materials in the holiday windows of all VS retail stores. I believe she was the first black model to ever appear in VS windows, but my memory should be checked.

Campbell doesn’t shy away from discussing the issue of diversity in the industry, writes Julien. “I’m never going to say I wasn’t picked because of the color of my skin and I’d never go down that route, even if it was the case,” she says defiantly. “It would just give me more strength and perseverance for me to go out there and get what I want.” Teaming up with fellow veterans of the modeling world Iman and Bethann Hardison, “the trio champions inclusion to ensure that the number of black and Asian women on magazine covers, on runways, and in campaigns is balanced.”

Iman reflected on their infamous 2013 letter to the fashion industry in her recent Porter Edit Interview.