Girl Power: Sofía Jirau makes Victoria’s Secret history

Victoria’s Secret has had a controversial past.

After being home to various amounts of criticism ranging from cultural appropriation, lack of body diversity, and female objectification, its popular Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show ended in 2019. The same year the show ended, its organizer and Victoria Secret Angels developer Edward Razek resigned. Soon after, the brand began efforts to rebrand. Now, years after those efforts began, it seems that Victoria’s Secret continues to evolve with the inclusion of Sofía Jirau in its latest campaign. Sofía makes history as the first Victoria’s Secret model with Down syndrome and the second Puerto Rican model for the brand.

Who is Sofía Jirau?

Sofía began her modeling career in 2019. Even with Down syndrome, a condition in which the body is born with an extra chromosome, giving an individual extra physical or mental challenges due to how the body develops,  she knew wanted to pursue her career head-on.

After starting her career, she developed her online store. Alavett, is an accessory and lifestyle Shopify store that allowed her to familiarize herself more with clothes and fashion. Soon after, she made her childhood dream come true in 2020 when she walked in New York’s Fashion Week.

Even with Victoria’s Secret’s past thus so, it should come as no surprise that Sofía continues to reach high achievements in her career.

She is one of 18 models who join the brand for their Valentine’s Day, “Love Cloud” collection. The collection is the most inclusive collection for the brand yet featuring familiar faces like Hailey Beiber and newer faces like Sofía Jirau, wildland firefighter for the Nez Perce Tribe Celilo Miles, and fitness trainer Jailyn Matthews.

What do you think of this Victoria’s Secret change? Are you excited for what is to come of Sofía Jirau? Sound off below in the comments. We would love to hear from you.