Bye Victoria’s Secret Angels, hello VS Collective: from Priyanka Chopra to Heidi Klum and footballer Megan Rapinoe, meet 14 models for the lingerie brand from then to now
On June 16, 2021, Victoria’s Secret officially announced that they will be ending its Angels’ runway event. The sexy show paused in 2019 after a slew of controversies including claims of a lack of diversity. Now that pause has been made permanent.
After Victoria’s Secret started suffering decreasing show ratings and declining sales, they decided to shift gears by updating their marketing to reflect what the modern woman wants to see. The company has overhauled its executive team and all except one of the board of directors’ seats are now held by women.
Replacing the Angels is the VS Collective, seven women who will appear as Victoria’s Secret’s new faces in advertisements and promote the brand through Instagram.
But as we embrace the new era, let’s take a look back at seven of the most iconic Angels who ever graced the runway, before turning to the future and meeting VS Collective, seven representatives of Victoria’s Secret’s next, more representative chapter.
Angels
Alessandra Ambrosio
The Brazilian-born beauty twice wore the brand’s Fantasy Bras that were worth US$2.5 million – 2012’s Fantasy Bra and the Dream Fantasy Bra in 2014 – and donned 30-pound wings while she was pregnant. She has her own beachwear brand and is an ambassador for the US National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Gisele Bündchen
Tyra Banks
Banks was Victoria’s Secret first black contracted model, joining them in 1997 until 2005. She is well-known today for her television show America’s Next Top Model, which she created in 2003, and the daily talk show Tyra.
Miranda Kerr
Heidi Klum
German-American Klum worked with Victoria’s Secret for 13 years, wearing the US$10 million Millennium Bra in the 1999 Runway Show and the Heavenly Star Bra valued at US$12.5 million in 2001.
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Adriana Lima
Identifying as an Afro-Brazilian, Lima’s mixed descent means she speaks four languages. She’s also Victoria’s Secret’s longest-running model, walking for them from 1999 to 2018. Today she has a net worth of US$95 million.
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Liu Wen
Liu became the first Chinese model to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2009, going on to appear in seven shows in all. This success helped make her first Asian model to ever make Forbes’ annual highest-paid models list.
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VS Collective
Adut Akech Bior
Amanda de Cadenet
This British journalist, photographer and equality advocate is today based in Los Angeles. She is the founder of the Girlgaze Network, a platform with the mission of connecting the world’s best businesses with female and non-binary creatives.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Eileen Gu
Gu is a Chinese-American model who competes for China as a pro freestyle skier. In the 2021 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships she won gold in the Freeski Halfpipe and Freeski Slopestyle. The 17-year-old will attend Stanford University in 2022 after the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Megan Rapinoe
Rapinoe is a professional football player who plays for OL Reign and the US national team. She was named The best Fifa women’s player in 2019 and was part of the team that won Fifa Women’s World Cup in 2015 and 2019. Outside football, she is a noted LGBTQ+ and pay equality activist.
Paloma Elsesser
Elsesser is a plus-size model and outspoken body positive activist who graced the cover of Vogue in January 2021. She has modelled for Nike and Rihanna’s label Fenty Beauty.
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Valentina Sampaio
Another Brazilian model and actress, Sampaio made history as Victoria’s Secret’s first transgender model in 2019 and followed that up by being the first trans model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2020.
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- Tyra Banks was the brand’s first black model who then started America’s Next Top Model, while Miranda Kerr is now married to Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel
- Plus-size model Paloma Elsessor, who has worked with Nike and Rihanna’s label Fenty Beauty, joins VS Collective alongside LGBT talent too