Czech supermodel Karolina Kurkova is now a Ford model in New York.

AOC backtracked to pick up Kurkova’s Miami-based fashion story for Harper’s Bazaar Turkey’s December 2023 issue. AOC has now learned that the supermodel and husband since 2009 Archie Drury are selling their home on Fisher’s Island in Miami for about $7M. The about 2500 sq ft property was put on the market in May.

The supermodel was photographed in Miami for the June 2023 cover story of Mujer Hoy, lensed by Agata Serge. A mother of two sons and one daughter, Kurkova also appeared in a menswear fashion story for the June 2023 issue of Vogue Czechoslovakia, lensed by Marek Micanek.

Karolina Kurkova at Victoria’s Secret

The former Victoria’s Secret Angel [named in 2005] Kurkova appeared in nine VS fashion shows between 2000 and 2010.

In the days when Victoria’s Secret Angels promoted $15 million Fantasy bras and the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show was a monumental production with declining viewers for many years, Kurkova was decked out in diamonds, wearing the Fantasy Bra in 2002.

Getting Rid of VS Fashion Show Sparkle

Always speaking well of Victoria’s Secret, Kurkova told People Magazine in 2015 about her least favorite aspect to walking the VS runway. “It takes about a whole week to rinse off and get rid of all the sparkle and glow in all of these different places after the show’s over,” Kurkova said.

Yes, she said it took a week to rid herself of the Victoria’s Secret fairy dust. This issue was a health challenge for Karolina Kurkova, who has worked for years to gain a medically-healthy body.

“Even in between every finger is glowing and sparkly, because those cameras are everywhere and you want your skin to look great,” the model explained. Anne adds that we assume the fairy sparkle was not sustainable — another important topic to Kurkova.

Victoria’s Secret Falters Again in Q1 2024

After a lukewarm reception to Victoria’s Secret’s ‘The Tour’ documentary released in fall 2023, the lingerie brand promises to bring back a more female-centric version of its world-famous runway show in 2024.

On June 5, 2024 Victoria’s Secret reported first-quarter net sales of nearly $1.36 billion, a 3.4 percent decline compared to $1.41 billion in 2023. VS reported a net loss of $4 million, compared to net income of $1 million in first quarter 2023.

First quarter 2024 Victoria’s Secret net sales in North America dropped by 7.2 percent, according to WWD. With regard to the 2024 reintroduction of the runway fashion show, the real question facing the lingerie brand is “does anybody care?”

To end on a positive note, Gap Inc. is reporting excellent news in its determination to upcharge its faltering brands business under the leadership of Richard Dickson.

Gap Inc. is hardly out of the woods in stabilizing its business. But in a sentiment of encouragement to Victoria’s Secret, AOC processes Dickson’s success as positive proof that Victoria’s Secret remains redeemable as a viable business.

However, my decade-long alma mater should not dismiss my fundamental question never asked until today about Victoria’s Secret: does anybody really care about the lingerie brand after Ed Razek stepping down in 2019, followed by Les Wexner in February, 2020.

The VS fix has gone on for way too long, running the brand off the road with a string of decisions that have left me clueless about who they even are anymore as a lingerie brand.

So Anne says “no” — nobody would miss Victoria’s Secret if it closed tomorrow. I have never seen a brand so needlessly ‘wrecked’ in modern business history.

After putting my heart and soul, superb instincts around female sexuality and widely-applauded design smarts, with no design degree, into Victoria’s Secret for a decade, I sincerely hope to be proven wrong. ~ Anne