It all started with a chicken wing, as most brilliant ideas do. Bella Younger, who you may better know as Deliciously Stella off of the Instagram, went out to eat with her director and co-writer Emilia and producer Hannah. They were having that conversation that we often pretend not to have with ourselves on a regular basis – what do I put on my Instagram feed next?
They realised that a parody on wings for Victoria’s Secret would be really great with a chicken wing so, (as the margaritas continued to flow, Bella tells me) they realised that, actually, the idea would make a really brilliant web series. Fast forward a few months, six weekends of filming and a skirt made out of Walkers crisps packets and we have Stella Gets Her Wings, a five-episode YouTube parody on all of the drama involved in auditioning for and walking in the coveted Victoria’s Secret fashion show.
WATCH Stella Gets Her Wings, Episode One
Being part of Victoria’s Secret is like being in a secret club except you don’t need a password, you just need 18 percent body fat’, Stella says to camera before her all-important casting session with Teddy (played by Blake Harrison from the Inbetweeners, btw). It’s funny, obviously, but also has a point to make about the weird culture of fashion. We had a chat with Bella to find out what she really thinks of Victoria’s Secret and what it was like to walk down London’s Millennium bridge in little more than a bra and pants.
**The dust is only just settling on this year’s Vicoria’s Secret show in Shanghai. And while your web series does comment on some important issues, what was it like to make it ? Did you have fun? **
**Bella: **It was so much fun making it! Initially we thought we would only work with women because we need to hire more women in the production world anyway, but because of the time schedule we had to work with some men who were so lovely, and respectful. But before filming I was shitting myself. I had to walk down Millennium Bridge in a bra…It was awful! I was on Millennium Bridge and this woman came up to me, obviously on her way to the Tate and she was like ‘I hope it’s worth it, love’.
**OMG! I love that she took it upon herself to be like ‘yeah, I should have a word’. It’s such a weird one because whenever there’s a fashion week or a show or a new campaign we’re always talking about why is the fashion industry so slow to keep up with diversity, why do you reckon that’s still happening? **
Bella: I don’t know I feel like it’s been a cultural thing. I feel like fashion has always gravitated towards slimmer women, and I think that will still carry on happening for a long time. But I mean I’m impressed they made moves to become more ethnically diverse but I’m very surprised they didn’t make the move this year, with the rise of people like Ashley Graham and Barbie Ferreria, all these brilliant plus size models, they were absolutely spoilt for choice. It’s not like these women don’t model underwear. They do all the time and they look stunning. We were just like 'oh, well, you’re all idiots, we’re cross and we’re going to try and make a clever point in a silly way.'
It’s the question we’ll probably be trying to figure out what’s going on. Especially while there are so many successful plus size models. It felt almost like this year was a little bit outdated. Do you think maybe we’re over Victoria’s Secret?
**Bella: **I feel like, I don’t know may if it’s because I’m older now, I’m 30 and I’m much more comfortable with myself and I no longer see it as necessarily being aspirational, I see it through a different lens I guess. But I feel like the world has made a collective change through feminism being so much more at the forefront of everyone’s minds.
WATCH: A History Of Fashion Week
I’m obviously preaching to the choir but I think why so many people love what you do is because you’re very good at poking fun at important things that need attention drawn to them. I’m guessing using comedy to do that is a very conscious thing?
Oh yes, it’s definitely a conscious thing. When I first started doing Deliciously Stella I wanted to highlight the ridiculousness of eat clean and I’m definitely drawn to things that set unrealistic standards for normal women, and that are designed to make women feel bad about themselves. And yeah, I love taking something zeitgeisty and turning it on its head – that’s what I find really funny.
The main thing we wanted to do [with Victoria’s Secret and S_tella Get’s Her Wings_] is that we didn’t want to bash any of the models. So many of those models are super intelligent, they know exactly what they’re doing – it’s the structure within Victoria Secret, it’s the CEOs and the casting directors who are largely men as well, it’s those people that are controlling it and it couldn’t scream ‘male gaze’ more if it tried. This isn’t for women, it’s no longer a fantasy and it’s basically just not nice.
Like this? You might also be interested in…
An In-Depth Study Of The Secret Hierarchy Of The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
In Which We Discuss Victoria’s Secret’s Feminist Credentials
Follow Jazmin on Instagram @JazKopotsha
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.