The lingerie company’s annual fashion show is back, and it’s as sexy as ever. Its namesake Angels – the so-called supermodels who star in the VS show and appear in its annual catalog – are more gorgeous than ever. They look like a fantasy come to life, with cascading curls and sculpted cheekbones. Their otherworldly beauty is a reminder that, even in our increasingly cynical world, we should celebrate artists who use their bodies as their canvas.
This year, Victoria’s Secret is also celebrating the diversity of women. The lingerie brand tapped trailblazing models of color and curves for its new runway show, which premiered on Hulu on Sunday night. Its new cast included supermodel Kate Moss, who made her first VS runway appearance at age 50. It also featured other seasoned veterans of the fashion industry, including Tyra Banks, Carla Bruni, and Eva Herzigova. The show also featured plus-size models like Ashley Graham and Paloma Elsesser, as well as trans model Alex Consani.
Victoria’s Secret is the largest American retailer of lingerie, sleepwear, and swimwear for women. Its founder, Roy Raymond, opened the first store in 1977, and its first catalogue debuted a few years later. Its sexy, sultry images of its “Angels” and other models helped to popularize the idea that women’s undergarments could be both fashionable and sensual.
By the mid-1980s, VS had a nationwide chain of more than 600 stores and a large mail-order business. Its chief competitors are lingerie, gift, and women’s clothing stores, as well as department stores. Its catalog is mailed to more than 40 million households.
In the early 2000s, VS faced competition from fast-fashion retailers such as Forever 21 and H&M, which used celebrity endorsements to promote their products. The company was also challenged by changing fashion trends, such as the rise of more casual attire among young consumers. In addition, the popularity of online shopping and mobile apps made it harder for traditional brick-and-mortar stores to compete with these online retailers.
The VS show, which is held every November in New York City’s Pier 61, is broadcast in over 200 countries and territories and attracts more than a billion viewers worldwide. It features a parade of sexy, clad-in-sexy VS models strutting down the runway to sultry music. In recent years, the VS show has been the subject of criticism for its unrealistic standards of beauty and sex appeal.
In 2018, the company’s former chief marketing officer, Ed Razek, sparked massive online backlash after giving an interview to Vogue in which he claimed that the company only hired thin models. He was eventually fired by parent company L Brands in 2020, after a 2022 three-part documentary series on Hulu uncovered his ties to alleged sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
After his departure, VS revamped the show’s casting practices to reflect a more inclusive vision of feminine beauty. Its new lineup of Angels, which it calls the collective, includes women of all ages and sizes, from curvy models to transgender and non-cisgender models.