'Victoria's Secret: Angels and Demons' weaves collectively Jeffrey Epstein and company tradition

Half one is a reasonably customary take a look at Wexner's enterprise acumen in buying the lingerie outfit and remodeling it right into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, inspiring cultish devotion amongst workers whereas going through ever-escalating stress to make the advertising extra provocative. Hovering for a time, the latter impulse regularly drifted towards what one observer describes as the skinny line between high-end style and soft-core pornography.

But Wexner's success, which made him the richest man in Ohio, additionally introduced Epstein into his orbit, finally resulting in allegations that the latter leveraged his affiliation with the corporate as a part of his predatory habits.

The toughest-to-explain side of the story contain Wexner granting Epstein energy of lawyer over his property. Michael Gross, creator of the e-book "Mannequin," means that given the closeness of the boys, it was exhausting for a lot of to be shocked Wexner's identify would come up "because the Jeffrey Epstein onion was unpeeled."

With so many initiatives dedicated to the Epstein scandal, together with docuseries from Investigation Discovery and Netflix, the emphasis on his function, whereas comprehensible, looks like well-trodden territory. Certainly, it tends to obscure insights having to do with Wexner's retail technique and its broader implications -- turning one thing as mundane as underwear right into a premium merchandise, manufacturing in China to slash prices and from a cultural perspective, feeding unrealistic expectations about ladies's our bodies with closely photoshopped catalogue spreads.

Within the last chapter, nonetheless, director Matt Tyrnauer deftly weaves the items collectively, conveying how the important thing males behind Victoria's Secret have been blind to the adjustments sweeping over society whereas allegedly partaking in their very own questionable habits.

The corporate started to appear like a "dinosaur," says casting director James Scully, as evidenced by the demise of its style present. Of the hyper-sexualization that after made Victoria's Secret a sensation, he notes, "The world at massive moved on from it, and so they did not."

Wexner's bravado additionally embodied a sure swaggering angle of the billionaire class that grew up throughout these years that attracts inevitable parallels to Epstein's different well-known and rich pals, in addition to the present technology of high-profile moguls that has adopted.

The problem in repeatedly returning to the Epstein of all of it is that it doubtlessly provides a salacious "ick" issue to the narrative with out bringing a lot new to the occasion. "Victoria's Secret: Angels and Demons" principally overcomes that criticism in a means that is nicely value watching, even when, by the requirements of the most effective docuseries, it would not rise to the extent essential to utterly earn its wings.

"Victoria's Secret: Angels and Demons" premieres July 14 on Hulu.