Attracting millions of viewers globally, the 2026 Victoria’s Secret fashion show is a night that’s been anticipated for months. All eyes were on Los Angeles on October 18th as pop culture’s biggest names and influencers gathered in the audience and the world at large fawned over the models taking centre stage.
The night was fabulous, but its wake held a slightly controversial tension.
After 21 shows in 31 years, viewers are increasingly able to trace patterns in how the ‘ideal’ woman is portrayed, from the runway down to our high streets and psyches. This potential conflation of female empowerment and dangerous spectacle is a hot topic of discussion, and many agree it may be time to look beyond the pink carpet and delve into its entanglement with womanhood.
Is Kylie Jenner Our Fantasy?
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is known to always have a surprise in store but seeing Kylie Jenner in the ’Fantasy Bra’ – last constructed in 2018 – was a shock to all. The beauty mogul made her runway debut in a bra embellished with over 4,000 diamonds and valued at over $50 million. Once a rite reserved for Angels or supermodels reaching a career-defining point, the decision to dress Jenner in the iconic design raises several questions. Was this about representing the ultimate feminine fantasy? How beauty meets achievement? And would Jenner be the right figure chosen by the brand to underpin these messages? The mood is mixed.
A successful businesswoman, mother of two and public figure who is beginning to speak on the beauty pressures she has experienced, (and beauty standards her famous family has set), Kylie Jenner brings more than her name to the table.
But we cannot ignore the history. The Fantasy Bra has been traditionally worn by the industry’s most celebrated supermodels – Adriana Lima, Heidi Klum, and Tyra Banks to name a few. It symbolises years of resilience and experience, cementing these women as living legends in the modelling game. Jenner, by contrast is a celebrity: a cultural phenomenon in her own right, with hundreds of millions of followers.
But does this align with the Fantasy Bra?
If the bra celebrates a model’s professional legacy, then celebrity status has superseded the place of tenure and years of honing a craft. A great business decision, sure. But virtue matters too, and in lieu of the honour and prestige the bra usually bestows on its honouree, we’re left feeling that there’s a slightly manufactured sense to it all this year.
Mothers Are the Angels On Earth
The show made headlines in 2025 when Jasmine Borrero Tookes opened the show nine months pregnant with her second child. As the first pregnant woman to walk as well as the second Black woman to open a VS show after Naomi Campbell back in 1996, she created a beautiful moment in the brand’s history. Fast-forward to 2026, two models returned to the stage, each six and twelve weeks postpartum respectively.
At least 16 mothers walked this year, and we rarely see motherhood made visible in such a way. Women can be championed as multifaceted and embracing of sensuality and ambition – all incredibly validating for viewers. But there now arises a dichotomy: while celebrating mothers reclaiming space within the public eye, we must also question the expectations attached to their return. Though the appearances of fan favourites Elsa Hosk and Barbara Palvin may speak to their respective strength and professional ambitions, does this warp our expectations of mothers when such a rapid return becomes part of the spectacle? Mothers should be afforded the chance to recover and navigate motherhood without the pressure to return to their ‘former’ selves. Yet their lives have changed forever, so decisions such as these should make us conscious of how the show may become another benchmark against which other mothers measure themselves.
Let the Rookie Have Her Moment!
Solange Omon, 21-year-old model from Cameroon was announced as the winner of the Angels Among Us, a reality docuseries which saw both aspiring and emerging models vie for a place in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and an IMG Models contract. There were three women of colour in the final: a great display of the forms beauty can take, given the criticism VS has faced in the past. Yet as the world learned of the result when winner Omon took to the runway, social media began swirling with opinions. Discourse has been teetering between pride over what Omon’s win represented, and whether she deserved it.
Viewers are portraying the young woman as underprepared and less of the ‘full package’ compared to other finalists, Andreína Martínez Fournier and Tatyana Tinsley. The most criticised candidate of the final three, Solange’s victory has become a point of contention rather than being recognised for what it is – a victory, which will give a young woman the chance to be seen and to grow. It is disappointing that the conversation took a sour turn so quickly, and a dark skinned woman was considered less deserving over subjective reasons presented as fact. We need these new faces to help challenge historic beauty standards, but how can they if we put them down before having the chance to come into their own?
The Bombshell Never Went Out Of Fashion, but Should It?
One thing that has remained in 31 years is the overall beauty aesthetic. When you think of Victoria’s Secret, you instantly paint a picture of bronzed skin, smokey eyes, glossy lips, and voluminous hair. This classic combination does the trick – it’s dreamy and with no doubt leaves onlookers gagged.
Intermixed with the signature looks we are seeing more models wear their curls or having other natural features as prominent parts of their look.
The angels are the face of the brand. Their looks are virtually synonymous with the name Victoria’s Secret. Over the years, there have been some positive additions, including American soccer star Trinity Rodman making her debut. But questions remain on just how ‘broad’ the brand’s definition of beauty is if returning icons steal our attention. There is something compelling about a beauty signature so closely associated with the show’s heyday, but a more diverse cast does not automatically mean a more expansive ideal. There is room for both legacy and change, but the latter requires more than repackaging.
All of this is not to say that women cannot take up space. Issues only arise when female empowerment appears within a constructed view of womanhood. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is a highly anticipated event for a reason: it captures attention on a global stage. It offers a reminder that visibility and acceptance are not always one and the same. Women can enjoy the wings and the fantasy without having to take its ideals as gospel. The real measure of progress is how much freedom models have to define beauty on their own terms, and how much freedom we give ourselves to do the same. So we have to be mindful of what we may inadvertently give room for ourselves to internalise.
