Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2025: Pregnant Angels, Athlete Debuts & A New Era of Fantasy
Victoria’s Secret staged its long-awaited return to New York, transforming Steiner Studios into a dreamscape of lace, light, and legacy. But this wasn’t the glossy, unattainable spectacle of years past. Instead, it was a new Victoria’s Secret, one that dared to blur fantasy with reality, perfection with imperfection, and sex appeal with stories of resilience.
Victoria’s Secret - 2025 Fashion Show
A Pregnant Angel Opens the Show
The opening moment belonged to Jasmine Tookes and her baby bump. In a sparkling gold netted gown with shell-inspired wings, Tookes’s slow, deliberate walk was less about seduction and more about presence. As she cradled her bump mid-runway, the message was clear: beauty and motherhood are not opposites, they can be one and the same.
It was a historic departure from Victoria’s Secret’s once-rigid ideals. For years, the show celebrated impossible standards of “angelic” beauty. Tookes shattered that ceiling in one walk, making pregnancy not only visible but radiant, central, and celebrated.
(People, Harper’s Bazaar)
When Athletes Become Angels
If Tookes opened with vulnerability, Angel Reese followed with power. The WNBA star became the first professional athlete ever to walk the Victoria’s Secret runway, a moment that was both fashion fantasy and cultural statement.
In two pink looks, one delicate lace with a shawl, the other bold with cut-outs and dramatic wings, Reese embodied both athleticism and glamour. “This is destiny,” she told Vogue backstage, her walk marking a fusion of sport and style that Victoria’s Secret has never seen before.
(AP News, People)
Resilience Behind the Glamour
Not every angel’s wings were effortless. Barbara Palvin walked despite a fractured foot, a quiet testament to the physical strain behind the spectacle. The show’s history of rigorous training and extreme preparation has long been whispered about backstage; Palvin’s determination brought it into the spotlight.
Her walk became a metaphor for Victoria’s Secret itself: still limping, still beautiful, still determined to prove it belongs.
A Cast of Legacy and New Voices
The 2025 roster was designed for balance. Adriana Lima, Lily Aldridge, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Joan Smalls, and Candice Swanepoel embodied continuity, while new faces like Precious Lee, Barbie Ferreira, Iris Law, Yumi Nu, and Quenlin Blackwell embodied evolution.
The question wasn’t who wore the wings best, but what each body, each identity brought to the stage. Inclusion wasn’t just about ticking boxes, it was about broadening the definition of fantasy itself.
Soundtrack to a Reset
The music told its own story. Missy Elliott brought fierce nostalgia, Karol G added Latin vibrancy, Madison Beer delivered pop sensibility, and TWICE ignited the K-pop fandom. The lineup reflected a more global, youth-driven brand strategy, acknowledging that Victoria’s Secret now sells not just lingerie but cultural capital.
From Fantasy to Future
Victoria’s Secret knows it cannot rely on nostalgia alone. The six-year hiatus followed years of backlash, criticism of outdated beauty ideals, corporate scandal, and declining relevance. The 2025 show is an attempt to repair its narrative.
But here’s the tea: is this true reinvention, or carefully packaged optics?
Casting a pregnant model and a pro athlete could be read as progressive, or as tokenistic gestures if not followed by systemic change.
The brand still leaned heavily on legacy Angels does this suggest hesitancy to fully evolve?
Spectacle remains central but is inclusivity now spectacle, or substance?
The Verdict
Victoria’s Secret 2025 was a question mark. It delivered wings, glitter, and grandeur, but also cracks of reality, pregnancies, injuries, athletic grit. In doing so, it reminded us that the fantasy of lingerie can coexist with the complexity of real life.
The brand’s future will depend on whether this inclusivity was a one-night narrative or the blueprint for a new era.
One thing is certain: for the first time in years, the world is talking about Victoria’s Secret again.
