After a six-year hiatus, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show came back better than ever. Many of us girls refer to it as our Superbowl— something we come together for and look forward to watching each year. This year was the return of the show after it ended in 2018. 

We got to see Gigi and Bella Hadid and Adriana Lima walk the runway again and return as the faces of Victoria’s Secret. To close the show, we even got to see Tyra Banks walk again after 25 years. 

Nonetheless, this show was extremely special, not only for the company and models but for all the girls watching worldwide. The past few days there has been an explosion of girls on TikTok and X exclaiming their excitement to sit with their friends and watch the show together. My friends and I took part in this and wore matching pajamas, made snacks and desserts and watched the show in the living room together.

It was such a fun bonding experience and watching the show was so empowering and gave us all chills. It reminded us that in the end, we are all girls together and women are truly such amazing human beings, especially when we join together as one. 

Although it’s important to so many girls, some wonder why the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows are so serious. It was the first big lingerie fashion show to ever be produced, as Victoria’s Secret was one of the very first lingerie shops to ever open.

 Over the years, they have gathered the top supermodels and performers to put on visual displays with elaborate sets. By using extravagant angel wings and costumes on top of the lingerie, the fashion show grabbed lots of attention throughout the years. The models quickly became known and trademarked as the Angels. The fashion show became a staple for women to watch each year and inspired them to dress up as the iconic angels for Halloween. Everyone wanted a pair of angel wings and the angels truly played a significant role in shaping beauty standards.

Since lingerie can be seen as a controversial item of clothing, many people looked down on the shows for only having Angels wear lingerie and refused to look at the deeper meaning behind the show. Lingerie is one of the things that make a woman feel most confident with herself, and having that normalized and displayed worldwide was a pivotal move for the fashion industry and womanhood. When girls watch the show, it makes them want to go buy lingerie and feel like a supermodel themselves. 

The 2024 comeback was a reminder of how much women love Victoria’s Secret and the angels. The immense amount of supporters and viewers they got was unreal. When the show ended in 2018 after 23 years of successful shows, it was a very emotional time for everyone involved. Girls at home cried when Adriana Lima gave her last walk and models cried throughout the show. 

Even with extreme pushback from the audience, the show ultimately came to an end in 2018 because of a decline in viewership due to the lack of inclusivity in the show. They received multiple complaints that their shows set unrealistic expectations and lacked a moral compass. 

After their wake-up call, they spent the years focusing on multiple rebranding efforts, collaborations and partnerships and enhancing their digital presence to be able to keep up with the newly digitized market.  

They decided to come back in 2023 with a documentary titled, “Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons.” It was not successful and had much pushback from fans who watched the shows for years. People did not appreciate the fact the fashion show was not over the top and that there were barely any of the OG angels. People said it felt like they were trying too hard to fit into today’s society, instead falling short of authentic inclusivity.

This year, they listened to the fans and gave them exactly what they wanted. There was a lineup of female performers, including a finishing performance from Cher, and it was the first time they exclusively had women perform throughout the whole show. They had Kate Moss and Lila Moss both walk in the show, Adriana Lima and Tyra Banks made their return, and the Hadids both opened and closed the show. Some of the other staple angels people were excited to have seen on the runway were Taylor Hill, Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel and Elsa Hosk. 

Throughout the show, you could tell the passion both the models and fans had for the show. It was a reminder to all involved how loved and powerful they really are. Many women share the love of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and feel connected to women all over the world, especially through social media, when watching and talking about the show. The excitement and unification the fashion show has brought us the past couple days has been so special and again, has come as a reminder that we are all girls together. 

Support Student Media

Hi! I’m Kayla Friedman, A Magazine’s editor-in-chief. My staff and I are committed to bringing you the most important and entertaining news from the realms of fashion, beauty and culture. We are full-time students and hard-working journalists. While we get support from the student media fee and earned revenue such as advertising, both of those continue to decline. Your generous gift of any amount will help enhance our student experience as we grow into working professionals. Please go here to donate to A Magazine.