Some of the biggest names in modeling, including Tyra Banks and the Hadid sisters, slipped back into their iconic wings on Tuesday as the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show returned to the runway after a six-year break.
Once a highly anticipated event, featuring the brand’s contracted models known as “angels,” the show was a staple of primetime television from 1995 to 2018. However, it was canceled in 2019 as the fashion industry faced backlash related to body positivity, transgender rights, and the #MeToo movement.
The 45-minute show, streamed on Amazon’s Prime Video and various social media platforms, boasted its first-ever all-female musical talent lineup.
Performers included K-Pop star LISA, South African singer Tyla, and pop icon Cher, who wrapped up the show with her hits “Strong Enough” and “Believe.”
The show also featured many of its most famous angels, such as Gigi and Bella Hadid, Jasmine Tookes, Behati Prinsloo, Barbara Palvin, Taylor Hill, Candice Swanepoel, and Adriana Lima, who retired from the brand in 2018. Claudia Schiffer made her second appearance, having last walked in the 1997 show.
Tuesday’s event also marked the debut of several iconic models who had never previously walked the Victoria’s Secret runway, including supermodel Kate Moss, 50, and former French first lady Carla Bruni, 56.
It was also the first Victoria’s Secret show for model and body activist Ashley Graham, who expressed her excitement in the days leading up to the event, saying she was “over the moon” to participate, particularly as a woman in her late 30s and a mother of three. She looked forward to representing curvy women.
The final model to grace the stage was former angel Tyra Banks, who made history as Victoria’s Secret’s first Black contract and cover model. She walked in nine of the brand’s shows before retiring in 2005 to pursue a television career.
When she returned nearly two decades later, draped in a metallic cape and flashing her signature smile, the audience erupted in applause, along with the other models onstage. “I’ll never forget being in labor with my daughter Tyra on September 19, 1997! I was watching TV while in labor when a Victoria’s Secret commercial aired, featuring Tyra Banks! I immediately decided to change my daughter’s name from Hannah to Tyra, and the rest is history, lol!”
See some of the best looks from the show inside…
Blésnya Minher
Ashley Graham
Bella Hadid
Taylor Hill
Kate Moss
Rania Benchegra
Anok Yai
Devyn Garcia
Awar Odhiang
Adriana Lima
Neelam Gill
Jessie Aina
Irina Shayk
Jasmine Tookes
Candice Swanepoel
Alessandra Ambrosio
Devyn Garcia
Tyra Banks
Gigi Hadid
(Photos by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria’s Secret)
