The pink carpet was rolled out. The cameras flashed. The wings soared. On October 15, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime premiered the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, featuring four musical performances and approximately 40 models. Like years past, the models walked the stage in Victoria’s Secret-style attire, as well as some of the looks from PINK, featuring tracksuits and hoodies.

This year, the stage welcomed many new performers, including athletes, with appearances by Olympic gymnast Suni Lee and the Chicago Sky basketball player Angel Reese. Social media influencer Quenlin Blackwell took the stage, alongside many well-known models like the Hadid sisters, Adriana Lima and Alex Consani. The show also opened with Jasmine Tookes, a Victoria’s Secret favorite, who is nine months pregnant with her second child. This held a lot of meaning for the moms watching at home as they embraced motherhood as something beautiful.

What is the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show?

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is an annual event that is highly anticipated by many fashion fans and Vogue fanatics. The show was reportedly cancelled in 2019 due to heavy backlash the company faced as their their Chief Marketing Officer, Ed Razzek, made several offensive comments about transgender and plus-size models. They also faced heavy criticism for not casting size-inclusive models on the runway. People were not impressed with this image and fought against it, so the company canceled the show that year in protest.

However, in 2023, the show returned as a special on Amazon Prime Video and then in 2024 as a runway show. This year’s 2025 event took place in New York City and was streamed on several platforms, such as Instagram Lives, TikTok Lives and Amazon’s special premieres. The show features many lingerie-style looks, musical performances and elaborate sets. Another notable piece is that every model that appears at the Victoria’s Secret Show is named a Victoria’s Secret angel. Each look features a set of wings crafted from a diverse array of feathers, flowers and fur. Wearing the wings is a major milestone in a model’s career and symbolizes achievement and glory. Overall, the show serves as a major marketing event to promote Victoria’s Secret and PINK, showing off every look from lingerie to sleepwear throughout a night of aspiration and fantasy.

Who Appeared on the Runway?

This year, the show featured four female artists: Madison Beer, Karol G, TWICE and Missy Elliott. Madison Beer sang her popular song “Make You Mine” while wearing her own set of wings paired with bedazzled pink boots and bodysuit. While Beer sang, many of the models continued to walk down the runway and display their looks. The focus stayed on them as her ambiance filled the stage. It was her own personal set to inspire the models as they walked down the runway, while also featuring her moment. Beer continued her performance for about seven minutes, featuring her newest song “Bittersweet” and an older single “Yes Baby,” performing “Bittersweet” for the first time live on the show, and walking the show herself to follow.

Bella Hadid, one of the most famous models in the industry, wore a striking red set with a shawl for one look, and a glittering crystal-covered look with wings for another, closing the show. Alessandra Ambrosio, a Brazilian supermodel, wore a lacy ensemble paired with alluring black knee-highs. Her wings were also black, resembling the style of a masquerade ball mask. Lily Aldridge dressed in a long brown slip with a metal sun circling her face, beaming with elegance. Suni Lee debuted on the runway wearing a PINK sweatshirt outfit during TWICE’s performance. Alex Consani, a beloved new model, walked the stage in an all-red look. She wore satin cargo pants with a matching lingerie top and huge red wings.

The models in Victoria’s Secret show represent their own vision of feminism; there happens to be a focus on a slim, tall and toned body; however, since the 2019 incident, this opinion has taken a shift in a body-positive way. The show’s primary purpose is now to promote the brand, and the angels are evaluated on how well they promote the brand.

What’s the Message to Viewers?

To the viewers of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, the show’s message has undergone significant evolution over the years. Initially, it sold as fantasies of glamour and featured the image of a woman with its “Angels” as the psychic. By combining runway shows with live musical performances from top artists, the company wanted to merge fashion and pop culture to be the most-watched fashion show. Although after the backlash, recent shows, such as the one that aired this year, have attempted to balance an “authentic” side of modeling by showing viewers that all bodies are beautiful and connecting with viewers’ own personal lives. This message has included themes of female empowerment, with models discussing confidence and control over their own sexuality, and performances featuring anthems of strength. Women have historically been repressed in their strength, but it has been demonstrated that women act as a powerhouse in industries and communities. Through this show, the company can strengthen the image of female empowerment and crush the patriarchal standards set for women. Women are constantly being repressed in this state of the world. They are told to wear baggy clothes to hide their weight. They are told to be quiet and not overly confident because they take up too much space. Repression is real, and it is alive in this type of industry, so the company has decided to take a step forward. They have also made an effort to be inclusive, welcoming all forms of culture onto the runway, including different ethnicities and identities within the LGBTQIA+ community. Everyone has unique quirks that shape them into who they are. Past shows have tried to drown this ideal and tear it away from Victoria’s Secret’s name. However, now the company is looking to take a step forward because everyone is unique.

Additionally, as this world shifts into worries about climate change, sustainability is brought up continuously. Amidst the change societally, they are choosing to change ethically. They use more eco-friendly materials within their company, working with other brands that choose climate-positive ideals, and just raising awareness for the climate in general. Essentially, this can further bring people together in working to create physical and social change. If there can be harmony in both ways, society can grow.

Is There a Lasting Impact on the Young Women?

Maddison Younger, a Sophomore, offers a new perspective on the changing image of Victoria’s Secret. In a recent interview, Younger reflected on how the brand’s efforts to diversify its representation have impacted young women. She noted that Victoria’s Secret now features a wider range of body types, saying, “Their definition of plus-size models now is a lot different than what it was back in the day.” Younger believes the brand is making greater efforts than before, which she finds encouraging: “It’s refreshing to see a brand like Victoria’s Secret show all body types and how the clothing looks on every woman. People don’t have to hide.” Younger also spoke candidly about her personal experiences with body image, shaped in part by comments from gymnastics coaches. She described overcoming these insecurities by leaving the sport and surrounding herself with supportive people. “I think that doing that sport made me feel insecure about myself, body-wise, because I was a lot more muscular than a lot of kids my age, so I felt very weird. I feel like I looked kind of manly because of all the muscle and stuff, and also I felt like, you know, I had coaches and stuff who would tell us to suck in our stomach. ‘Don’t stick out your stomach, the judges aren’t going to like that.’ So I was very insecure about my stomach showing through my leotard. I definitely, from an early age, learned to always have my stomach sucked in.”

Ava Hurley, a Senior, talks about the show supporting the message the show has worked towards in recent years, acknowledging its importance. She shared a personal story about overcoming insecurities relating to acne and physical appearance, emphasizing the importance of self-acceptance and embracing one’s body. “When I was 13 or 14, I was super insecure about how I dressed, and I had pretty bad acne. I saw a bunch of girls online, and they were super pretty, and I wanted to be like them.” Hurley shared that these beauty standards put a lot of pressure on young girls from an early age, especially with shows like this. However, with this year’s show, there has been a shift: “there is no set standard.” She also sent a personal message to girls younger than her, providing her own personal advice, saying, “Embrace yourself and embrace you’re body because you can’t change it. It’s a mind thing. If you embrace it and think to yourself, ‘I can’t change this,’ it helps to accept that it’s a part of you.”

So, while viewers have been divided nationally, with some supporting old “beauty images” and finding recent shows lacking the original magic, others continuously note the importance of representation and inclusivity. Women at West High each have a story about beauty standard battles, consistently being pushed to change. Just like the women at West, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is a continually evolving event that aims to represent all walks of life. The show brings viewers together and sheds light on models who work hard every day to carry on the beauty industry. Essentially, viewers should remember that everybody is different and every body is beautiful. The Victoria’s Secret fashion show is not a show for judgment, but a show to revel in as they begin accepting the new ideals of their viewers.