“We are back.” The annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has returned and is more glamorous than ever. The show aired on Oct. 15, 2024 and featured new models as well as older iconic models.

The original Victoria’s Secret Fashion show began in 1995, but didn’t peak in popularity until the 2000s and early 2010s. The show took place in New York city and featured elaborate musical performances, top models in high fashion lingerie and wings called “Angels”, extravagant sets and celebrity appearances. The show was canceled after 2018 due to intense criticism over glorification of unrealistic beauty standards for young women and lack of diversity along with inclusivity.

“When I was little, I used to watch [The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show] with my mom and then I was really excited when I heard about the new rebrands. What makes a Victoria’s Secret show a Victoria’s Secret show is the wings, the glitter, the happiness and girls being girls,” Bella Dibiase, junior, said.

Since rebranding, the newest Victoria’s Secret Fashion show brings together the unique and iconic elements of the old shows while combining new aspects to make the show more widely inclusive, authentic and highlight body positivity and feeling comfortable in your own skin as a woman. The “We are back” slogan highlights how even though there is a shift in the narrative of how Victoria’s Secret views their shows, there will still be the glamor and uniqueness of the original shows.

“Victoria’s Secret empowers women by having different body images and allowing that to be the new normal instead of just skinny models modeling. Now that it’s more diverse, it’s really cool. I like that they used “We are back” as a way to come back,” Jade O’Connor, junior, said.

Many of Victoria Secret’s original models came back as well as new models making an appearance. Some of the well known and loved models that came back include Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel, Doutzen Kroes, Bella Hadid, Barbara Palvin Sprouse, Gigi Hadid and Taylor Hill. New and loved models such as Alex Consani made an appearance as well. One of the most popular appearances was of Kate Moss and Tyra Banks. Banks came out of retirement to be the closing model for the show and Moss walked the Victoria’s Secret runway for the first time to the song “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”.

“I loved when [Kate Moss] came and her daughter came back. I liked all the new models  coming back and making an appearance,” O’Connor said.

A unique piece of every Victoria’s Secret fashion show is the outfits. They vary for different themes of each set of models walking the runway and are always super extravagant. The wings are unfortunately not for sale, but all the looks are able to be shopped on their website for the first time.

“My favorite look was Bella Hadid’s because it ended the show with a nice red, like how the show opened with the pink [Gigi Hadid’s opening outfit color]. One of my favorite parts of the show is their outfits, and how it’s now on the website– like you can buy it now, that’s  pretty cool,” O’Connor said.

The fashion show this year had a music lineup that changed Victoria’s Secret history – all women performers. Meaning, it was a girls only runway. The singers included Lisa, Tyla and Cher. Lisa is a Thai singer, rapper and dancer from the hit k-pop group BLACKPINK. Tyla is a South African singer known for her Afro-pop hits and well known single “Water” which she performed at the show. Cher is a famous American singer and actress who has been producing music for over six decades.

“My most favorite part of the new show was all the new music people, like when Cher came on and all the classics. Tyla was so good and Cher was Cher. You can’t beat that,” Dibiase said.

Victoria Secret’s new show to recap is all about women. It is all about embracing women’s beautiful, authentic, diverse and individual selves. They used models of different races, height, ethnicities, nationalities and age. Yet all of these differences are set aside and united under the joint life experience of being a woman.

“I love the new show. I think the rebranding is great. I think it’s going to bring them [Victoria’s Secret] good money. It’s going to bring everybody back to Victoria’s Secret. It’s going to empower women,” Dibiase said.