Victoria’s Secret owner fights back with ‘inclusivity’ plan

Shares of L Brands — owner of Victoria’s Secret — bounced 3.8 percent on Tuesday after management promised change is coming to the out-of-favor lingerie maker.

But details of the turnaround plan were as skimpy as the retailer’s lingerie itself.

At an investor presentation in Columbus, Ohio, L Brands executives freely used buzzwords such as “inclusivity” and “diversity” without laying out how these concepts would be applied to the company behind the Victoria’s Secret Angels.

“There’s an opportunity to step back, whether it’s MeToo, inclusivity or rethinking the [fashion] show,” L Brands Chief Financial Officer Stuart Burgdoerfer told investors. “The point is it’s a fine line of rethinking the evolution of the brand.”

Behind the scenes, the company appears to be taking baby steps to address criticisms that it has been alienating women by refusing to hire models of different shapes and sizes.

Earlier this year, Victoria’s Secret quietly added Barbara Palvin, a Hungarian model, to its lineup. Some watchers lauded the pick as progress due to her slightly curvier figure, while critics blasted the notion that she represents anything but a traditional Victoria’s Secret beauty.

The company has also quietly added Lorena Duran, who markets herself as curvy, but whose admirers — according to her own Instagram page — don’t understand why.

“This is the model they’re calling ‘plus size’??? Can someone explain this to me, because she’s not even a little bit big!!! She’s super hot!!! If she’s plus size what does that make the rest of us …,” one commenter wrote.

Victoria’s Secret declined to comment on the addition of these two models, who they have not formally announced.

Indeed, the only model change the company has taken credit for was the addition of transgender model Valentina Sampaio in August. The company said it hired Sampaio from Brazil two days after controversial executive Ed Razek left. Razek had famously said last year that the Victoria’s Secret fashion show would not feature transsexuals or plus-sized models because “we are selling a fantasy.”

“These are small steps at this point,” retail consultant Gabriella Santaniello of A Line Partners told The Post. “It’s likely they’re testing the waters and doing a very slow release of this messaging. But you can’t just have a token woman with full breast or token transgender. There has to be intention and authenticity behind it.”

Les Wexner, the 82-year-old billionaire chairman and chief executive of L Brands, kicked off the event by addressing another issue dogging the brand: His ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Without saying Epstein’s name, Wexner told investors he’s “embarrassed” by his former ties to his onetime money manager, who offed himself in his jail cell last month while awaiting trial on new charges.

In August, Wexner said that Epstein “misappropriated” more than $46 million of his personal fortune while serving as his money manager more than a decade ago. He also said an internal investigation into Epstein’s involvement at L Brands remains ongoing.

L Brands’ stock closed Tuesday up 3.8 percent, to $18.55. But the stock is down 27 percent for the year, as Victoria’s Secret continues to suffer declining sales.

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