The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is Back...
and I'm here for it || commentary, compliments, and critiques
After a six year hiatus, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has returned!
A mix of old and new Victoria’s Secret Angels walked the show, complete with glimmering outfits, the iconic VS wings, and various musical performances. After a significant break from hosting the show due to major public backlash, the VS team has claimed to “hear” the voices of commentators, and has significantly revamped the program, in terms of models, costumes, and advertising.
While there’s been both positive and negative feedback about Tuesday night’s show, it is my opinion that VS made a successful comeback and produced an engaging fashion event.
The Comeback
The key reason as to why the VS show was cancelled for several years was because of extreme backlash due to the lack of representation within the event. Women of different ethnic backgrounds, clothing sizes, and other demographics were repeatedly excluded from the show altogether, which over time, sparked outrage from the public as the social climate changed through decades.
However, at the 2024 show, a variety of women were represented on the runway, including two transgender models, Alex Consani and Valentina Sampaio, and several models over 50, including Kate Moss and Tyra Banks, among others.
On the other hand, its no secret that the Victoria’s Secret company as a whole has been on a financial decline over the past several years, which as expected, has made it more difficult to produce a fashion show that matched those of previous years. Its quite obvious that the majority of the budget for this year’s show went to casting specific models, such as Kate Moss (who made her VS debut), Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, Anok Yai, and Alex Consani.
The Show
Hosted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City yet pulling in audiences from around the globe, I found the fashion show to be incredibly enjoyable to watch, largely due to the long awaited return of Adriana Lima, a VS Angel veteran, who walked the runway in two separate looks. Did I particularly enjoy her looks? No. But, her presence alone was sufficient enough for me.
Models (and their outfits) that I adored were Anok Yai, Bella Hadid, and Jasmine Tookes. Not only are they each my favorite models across all fields of fashion, but I felt as if having these women walk the runway made VS feel so much more expensive and chic. Bella Hadid carried the runway in my opinion, I am forever in awe of her. Anok and Jasmine are individually timeless beauties and their outfits were my two favorites, with Anok in particular really catching my eye.
While my fingers were crossed for Gisele Bündchen to make a surprise appearance, I loved seeing so many returning Angels like Taylor Hill, Gigi Hadid, Irina Shayk, and Candice Swanepoel at the show. Likewise, seeing Kate Moss walk out was mesmerizing, as well as her daughter, Lila.
Coming from someone who has always been heavily invested in fashion and has prior knowledge and opinions on the previous Victoria’s Secret shows, I knew their return would never match the energy and sheer aura of the ones before, however, I do commend the company and models for producing an incredible show. In addition, a new touch to the event from the VS team I noticed was that this year, you can purchase a majority of the looks seen on the runway!
I was pleased by the show this year, and I hope they are able to make it happen again in 2025!
Watch the VS Show here!
Thank you for reading!
- Lily