Victoria’s Secret returns with Angel-packed runway spectacle after six-year hiatus

Everyone loves a comeback, right? That was what Victoria’s Secret was banking on for the return of its infamous runway spectacle that ended abruptly in 2019, so the company could “evolve the messaging of the brand,” according to a Fortune magazine article.

It also had something to do with dismal ratings following the 2018 show, former CMO Ed Razek telling Vogue he wouldn’t cast a transexual model, and most infamously, a ‘canceling’ of sorts, thanks to former L Brands CEO Lex Wexner’s association with sex trafficker and offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Between that and the pandemic, the brand has closed roughly 350 stores in the last five years.

Despite these setbacks—and a changing lingerie retail landscape with stores such as Intimissimi and Etam coming stateside and indie lingerie brands such as Skims, Cuup, ThirdLove, Natori, and Agent Provocateur gaining market share—Victoria’s Secret still cleared $6.2 billion in 2023, even if it’s down from a high of 7.8 billion in 2016.

The brand tested the show waters last year in an Amazon Prime documentary, ‘Victoria’s Secret: The Tour 2023’, but on Tuesday night returned to the live format. Using the production-practical but transportation-impractical Brooklyn Navy Yard to create its live television stage, the event touted a new female-focused approach, which most visibly translated into the musical performances headlined by 78-year-old Cher with other artists Lisa aka Lalisa Manobal and South Africa’s Tyla also taking the stage. VIP guests in attendance included Queen Latifah, Jodie Turner-Smith, Ice Spice and Teyana Taylor.

The show boasted inclusivity to clean up its image, interpreted as bringing angels and supermodels from all eras and ages to walk the runway. To wit, notable angels such as Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel, and Tyra Banks, who MC’d the show and closed it (though if you hadn’t followed Ms. Banks in recent years, she was easy to mistake for someone else.)

Other notables included Gigi Hadid, who opened the show in gargantuan articulated pink wings that looked dangerously close to toppling the model; her sister Bella classed up the joint in a red feather evening jacket number and gestured towards Cher when performing on the runway; former French First Lady Carla Bruni, who at 56 may have topped the age diversity scale and Kate Moss, who let it all hang out in a black lace number. (Moss was among several top models who walked only one length of the runway, versus turning and coming back up the other side, perhaps contractually?) 

With 50 models in total, the diversity box checks also had to do with body type, though whether a size 0 or size 14, everyone had a slamming physique and hailed with different backgrounds from over 25 countries. This is to say that the lineup wasn’t so revolutionary in today’s runway casting trends—however, props for several natural kinky power-manes that were sported by BIPOC models such as the stunning Imaan Hammam.

The aesthetic of the show was a conundrum in itself. Lingerie shows easily slide off the classy and sophisticated scale. This one veered deeply into a campy Vegas showgirl review from the start, with each look trying to outdo the concept of the wing motif—exquisitely originated by feather master Martin Izquierdo in the 90s—with strange apparatuses of all kinds hanging off the women’s backs. To be fair, the typical fashion show review press isn’t the audience the lingerie giant is going for.

This go-round beloved designer Zaldy Goco—a fashion and costume designer known for his theatrical design expertise—designed the show. His clients include Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga, Cirque Du Soleil, and the late Michael Jackson. He is an immense, in-demand talent, but perhaps the myriad of looks that had to stand alone added to an overload of ideas.

If the female-led production idea was viewing the show from the female gaze, the consensus is women have the same ideas and fantasies about having the showgirl vibe. On the upside, Halloween is just around the corner, and the show offers plenty of ideas for celebrating the holiday. Many of the ensembles were seemingly purely for show, while others were available on the brand’s website immediately following the show, a clever sales tactic.

Lisa opened the show, emerging from one of the retractable floor panels astride an angel-fied motorcycle, and gave two stellar performances (aided by a bevy of booty-baring dancers slash twerkers) as did Tyla, who charmed several models to stop and interact. The floor panels caused a snafu for one model whose shoe got caught in the mechanism. A particularly low moment was the ‘tough-chic’ black moto-styles section, where performer Orianthi seemingly attempted to lip-sync and play air guitar to Joan Jett’s ‘I Love Rock’n’Roll’ and Lenny Kravtiz’ ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’.

Thank God for Cher’s flawless rendition of ‘Strong Enough’ and ‘Believe’, aided by suit-clad backup dancers looking er, almost presidential by comparison, that brought down the house. After all, the only person to pull off sequins, crystals, feathers, and headdresses in barely-there outfits and make them look cool is Ms. Cherilyn Sarkisian.