The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show returned in 2024 after a five-year break, but this supposed renaissance felt more like a weary reprise, a reluctant return to the spotlight.
What we saw wasn’t so much a confident revival as a cautious, almost apologetic, stumble — lost somewhere between outdated glamour and the demands of modernity. Gone were the theatrics and polish of the show’s prime: in their place, we found a half-hearted attempt to reclaim relevance.
Certainly, the show made gestures toward inclusion. Models like Ashley Graham represented curvier bodies and the lineup included several older women, notably Carla Bruni and Eva Herzigova. Trans models like Alex Consani and Valentina Sampaio walked proudly alongside others, their presence a nod to a more inclusive industry. Yet, this diversity, refreshing though it was, felt more like a checklist completed than a genuine reimagining of the show’s identity.
Take the wings, for instance: while they were thankfully lighter than the iconic 30-pound versions of the past, many of them looked as though they had searched ‘Halloween angel costume’ on Etsy and ordered the first few to pop up.
Rather than bold statements, they looked flimsy and low-budget. Where the iconic wings once thrilled, their diminished, modern counterparts felt oddly trivial, bearing no resemblance to the fanciful creations that had once defined the show’s allure.
Watching the runway unfold was like observing a millennial high school reunion. The return of models we thought long retired only underscored how removed the show was from its golden age. As Doutzen Kroes struggled with her footwear, stumbling as her stiletto strap caught in the runway, the irony was hard to miss: Victoria’s Secret, too, was caught in the trappings of its past, labouring under the weight of an identity that no longer holds.
Confetti, smoke machines, neon-pink lighting — it was all there, a set dressed in the familiar trappings of the brand’s glory days, yet drained of energy. The entire overstated and underwhelming display left one feeling that the show’s real spectacle was not the models or the lingerie but the disconnect between what it once was and what it now seemed to be.
Perhaps it is finally time to admit that Victoria’s Secret’s former vision no longer holds. Its history, rooted in narrow definitions of beauty and marred by corporate scandal, weighs heavily on every effort to evolve. There is something fundamentally hollow about attempting to modernise a brand built on values that clash with our current moment.
The show’s return this year suggested that there are ideas, once so potent, that can’t be revived or reframed. The lace, the wings, and the romance, once powerful symbols, feel like artefacts from another world.
Illustration via Mia Williams.