The Victoria’s Secret fashion show is back. It’s been six years since the last performance, so fans from all around the world were ecstatic to hear that the show was to make its return this year. This show was marketed as being all about female empowerment with all female models, performers and show hosts – a first for the show. There are also some inclusivity changes with more plus size and trans models taking centre stage than ever before.
After the announcement of the show’s intended return after its extended break, there was a split response as to whether this was a good idea. When the producers were interviewed on the pre-show pink carpet the first question was ‘Why this year?’ They replied that: ‘We heard it loud and clear from customers, we are always scrolling on socials, they asked and we delivered.’ (Sarah Sylvester). ‘We have transformed so much as a business and we felt that we wanted to celebrate our product, which is looking amazing. And we wanted to celebrate women. We have so many people behind the scenes and in the design studios, all women. So tonight is just a celebration of all those things.’ (Janie Schaffer). With girl power now supposedly at the foreground, I expected big things as the show began.
This year’s show has also seen the return of many infamous ‘angels’ of the past. Gigi Hadid opened the show in a pink one-piece with gigantic pink feathered wings. And we all gasped when our OG angel Adriana Lima charged down the runway. However, there were also plenty of new angels that debuted this year and certainly held their own amongst the returners. From what I can tell from TikTok – we all let loose the same squeal when Kate Moss appeared. An angel we would never expect to see, Moss dominated the show in an all-black set with feathered wings and plenty of mesh. She was as stunning as ever. Her daughter also took to the catwalk with custom ‘Lila’ wings splayed across her back. Lila has since received plenty of backlash, the consensus from online trolls declaring that she is nothing more than a nepo baby who has no real modelling skills and likely only got this job because of her mother. Harsh. I would agree that she couldn’t quite keep up with the supermodels around her, yet I will say that she still looked stunning.
Alongside the models are, of course, the musical performers that make the show different from many other catwalks. This year – in line with the all-female theme – we had performances from Tyla, Blackpink’s Lisa and the ultimate icon herself, Cher.
As ever, the show has received backlash from its fans. Scrolling through X is like a minefield. However, the critiques are different this year. Many are upset about how boring the show turned out to be. After years of building up expectations, it seems VS didn’t quite reach them for many fans. Where were the big blowout hairstyles? The huge white feather wings? Why the massive production style change? The fans want answers. Moreover, if nostalgia was their primary hook for 2024 viewers I think they will be bitterly disappointed when they realise that the wide-eyed young girls that spent that one night a year crowded around the TV, just hoping to watch all the angels sashay across the runway, are actually now mature women who realise that these unrealistic beauty standards that the show proliferates cause much more harm than good. Despite the show’s proclaimed effort to move towards a more inclusive range of models, it was clear that the majority of this year’s angels still emulate that classic angel image from the show’s past. That legacy we believed these women to hold is, in fact, just a legacy of upholding unattainable beauty standards.
The show does finish with a bang. After a 20-year absence, supermodel Tyra Banks closes the show in typical Tyra fashion – extravagantly. She takes long strides down the runway in black leggings, a bedazzled black corset and larger-than-life cape which she swished around herself as she moved. The nostalgia was overwhelming, the VS team really knew what they were doing with that one.
In a post #metoo era, when society is shifting on from idealising the “skinny white blonde girl” as their only depiction of beauty, do the VS shows have a space? It seems they still have a following, but after this year’s show, I wouldn’t be surprised if those numbers start to dwindle…
You can watch the Victoria Secret Fashion Show here.