Victoria's Secret fashion show has returned this year following a six-year hiatus that came in the wake of criticism around its lack of diversity and relevance.
Iconic models from Tyra Banks and Kate Moss to Bella Hadid and Barbara Palvin Sprouse flaunted the runway in New York City on October 16.
Cher headlined the show, supported by Blackpink stars Lisa and Tyla, who each joined the models on the runway to perform.
In May, Victoria’s Secret announced their once iconic Fashion Show lingerie extravaganza is “BACK and will reflect who we are today, plus everything you know and love—the glamour, runway, wings, musical entertainment, and more!”
But who they are today is basically who they were during their hotness heyday, with a small expansion of their vision of beauty.
Tonight’s panty parade aired live on Amazon Prime and reverted to familiar faces, veterans who had already donned the famous wings before it was canceled in 2019.
Celestial bodies like Tyra Banks, Gigi Hadid, Mayowa Nicholas, Barbara Palvin, Behati Prinsloo, Jasmine Tookes, and Adriana Lima.
The splashy additions are plus-sized mannequins Paloma Elesser and Ashley Graham who said she agreed to walk because the brand is planning on adding larger sizes.
“I really like to be a woman of my word,” Graham who has over 21 million Instagram followers told Entertainment Tonight. “And make sure that the people I line up with and the companies I line up with are servicing the women who follow me that are larger.”
They added former French First Lady Carla Bruni, still a babe at 56.
Yes for all the handwringing, all the lectures on body positivity and corporate self-flagellation, it’s back to hot supermodels strutting down the runway in skimpy, sparkly bras and underwear – not meant for mere mortals.
The yearly lingerie show was put on ice due to poor ratings and a bad stench from inside corporate headquarters, which was reeling from #Metoo tumult and associations with Jeffrey Epstein. Their downfall was accelerated by Ed Razek, who was the show’s architect, telling Vogue in 2018 that they shouldn’t have “transsexuals” walk “because the show is a fantasy.”
Rezak was subsequently browbeaten by trans models and forced to capitulate. “I apologize. To be clear, we would absolutely cast a transgender model for the show,” he then resigned in 2019.
The once dominant brand giant put itself in a cultural purgatory and tried to rebrand in 2021 as a vehicle for female empowerment.
They formed the very official-sounding, VS Collective, a group of seven women, many non-models, tasked with replacing the titillating with driving “positive change.”
Or in the case of member Megan Rapinoe, to lead the shame campaign from within.
In a New York Times piece to unveil their new initiative, Rapinoe called the company, “patriarchal, sexist, viewing not just what it meant to be sexy, but what the clothes were trying to accomplish through a male lens and through what men desired. And it was very much marketed toward younger women.”
She added that it was “really harmful.”
But it turns out, one lesbian activist’s “harmful” is a whole lotta people’s awesome.
Last year, they soft-launched back into shows with #thetour which was a collection of bizarre film vignettes featuring an array of models in sloppy clothing concoctions. It was neither appealing nor aspirational.
Now the brand is admitting its original formula was successful for a reason. Both men and women appreciate the female form.
After all, the embrace of pre #metoo sensuality didn’t go away, it just moved to OnlyFans, Instagram, or, as was the case last spring, SNL when Sydney Sweeney and her breasts hosted.
And now we can stop pretending a company selling unmentionables is meant to be a moral arbiter. Sometimes a push-up bra is just a pushup bra.
Candice Swanepoel and Taylor Hill walk at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. pic.twitter.com/CL8ANpDDjJ
— CineScoop (@Cinescoop7) October 15, 2024
FULL PERFORMANCE of Icon & Legend CHER at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. #VSFashionShow pic.twitter.com/sbFYzKj22X
— Chris (@RealDealChris) October 15, 2024
LISA pulled up to the 2024 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 🎸 pic.twitter.com/9BAHZ3s0VZ
— HYPEBEAST (@HYPEBEAST) October 16, 2024