WNBA participant Angel Reese grew to become the first skilled athlete to stroll the runway on the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on Wednesday, because the lingerie label — and self-proclaimed arbiter of sexiness in the Nineteen Nineties — continues to rebrand following years of commercial turmoil.
The 23-year-old Chicago Sky ahead joined supermodels like Bella and Gigi Hadid, and former “Angels” together with Adriana Lima, in a star-studded lineup that additionally featured transgender, pregnant and plus-size fashions.
The numerous solid displays the model’s revamped imaginative and prescient for its annual extravaganza, which returned in 2024 following a six-year hiatus. Speaking backstage, Reese claimed she had “manifested this moment” whereas attending final 12 months’s present.
“I posted on my (Instagram) Story last year, when I was here at the show watching front row. I said, ‘I’m gonna be a Victoria’s Secret model one day,’” she stated including: “I didn’t know it was gonna come this fast.”
Once a significant televised occasion, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was typically criticized for selling outdated magnificence requirements, with viewership plummeting (from 9.7 million in 2013 to 3.3 million in 2018) earlier than its cancelation in 2019. An American mall staple thanks to merchandise just like the “Miracle” pushup bra, the lingerie big was recognized for utilizing primarily slim White fashions in its promotional campaigns.
By distinction, Wednesday night’s live-streamed runway opened with nine-month-pregnant mannequin Jasmine Tookes, whose child bump was seen by means of a gold macrame gown with pearl elaborations and a clam shell-shaped wing evoking the picture of Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus.”
Plus-size fashions Paloma Elsesser, Ashley Graham and Yumi Nu additionally appeared, as did Alex Consani, who (alongside Valentina Sampaio) made historical past final 12 months by turning into the first trans lady to characteristic on the present. Olympic gymnast Sunisa Lee in the meantime appeared in a “halftime show” for Pink, a Victoria’s Secret sub-brand concentrating on youthful girls.
“Everybody looks different, but they’re all beautiful,” Reese instructed NCS, whereas preparing, forward of the present. “(That’s) the inclusivity of being a Victoria’s Secret model and knowing that you can look beautiful in many different shades, sizes, lengths, heights — tall, short — you can be here.”
Reese stated her look resulted from conversations with Victoria’s Secret CEO Hillary Super, the girl charged with reversing the label’s fortunes. “She really told me… ‘You can be here. You’re an athlete, you have the body and you look amazing, and you’re really, really confident,’” the athlete stated.
Super’s arrival in August 2024 coincided with a modest enhance in annual income, which grew by 1% to $6.23 billion final 12 months. But the uptick follows a decade of slowing gross sales, retailer closures and elevated competitors from athleisure manufacturers and lingerie labels prioritizing consolation, numerous sizes and ranging “nude” shades.
As just lately as 2015, Victoria’s Secret was producing practically two-thirds of the income for its father or mother firm, L Brands, which was then price $28 billion. By 2020, the lingerie label had been taken private in a deal that valued the model at simply $1.1 billion.
In the years since, Victoria’s Secret has tried to reposition itself by partnering with a wider vary of celebrities. Before final 12 months’s comeback present, the label launched the VS Collective, a gaggle of brand name ambassadors recognized for selling gender equality and physique positivity.
Soccer participant Megan Rapinoe and Olympic gold medal-winning skier Eileen Gu have been amongst them, although Reese is, to date, the one sportsperson to stroll the Victoria’s Secret runway. “A lot of young women are going to be watching me today to know that they have some inspiration and know that they can dream this big,” the basketball star stated.
The label nonetheless turned to former Angels like Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio on Wednesday night, although the solid additionally featured a number of surprising newcomers, together with former “Euphoria” actor Barbie Ferreira and YouTuber Quenlin Blackwell. Missy Elliott and Karol G have been among the many musicians to carry out on an evening that — though a marked departure from years previous — nonetheless reveled in voluminous hair and risqué ensembles.
“I’m not going to shy away from looking like this, because I work my ass off for this body,” Reese stated. “Being sexy is just something that I love and always embrace.”