Victoria’s Secret is once again counting on bombshells.

For more than two decades on the runway, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show catapulted the brand into the collective global consciousness, making generations of its Angels household names while promoting a narrow, male-driven definition of sexy that left little room for diversity. In light of cultural changes and declining audiences, the show was canceled in 2019 with the promise that the company would develop its marketing.

In subsequent years, it did so by bringing in a collective of spokespersons, including Megan Rapinoe and Naomi Osaka, and expanding its product offering and size range. In 2023, Victoria’s Secret produced a documentary that attempted to further reframe the dialogue around the brand – through the female gaze of female directors and creators. Director Margot Bowman said at the time: “I see this as an opportunity to create a new set of images that more people can relate to.”

However, in the background the brand was constantly under scrutiny. Matt Tyrnauer’s Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons documentary, and the book by Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Iconturned their spotlight on the company’s wrong turns, from the company’s former owner Les Wexner’s association with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to its slow realization that it was missing trends.

Backstage at the show.

Photographed by Hunter Abrams

Backstage at the show.

Photographed by Hunter Abrams

Tonight, the brand changed course again and brought back the fashion show with little fanfare. Cher, Blackpink’s Lisa and Tyla all performed with backup dancers, and the evening ended with fireworks. The Instagram account read “The Wait Is Over” as Candace Swanepoel walked down Fifth Avenue in a black lace bralette, pencil skirt and gold wings. In another video on social media, Adriana Lima got into a taxi and, with a lot of emotion in her voice, told the driver, “I’m going home” — home, meaning the Victoria’s Secret runway.

“Part of our transformation is to put our customer at the heart of everything we do, and our customers told us loud and clear that they missed the fashion show. That was the starting point,” said Sarah Sylvester, the brand’s executive vice president of marketing. The question, as Ubers queued at the Brooklyn Navy Yard venue and the crowd mingled outside during a lively pre-show cocktail hour, was: would the show return to its form or would it be a more inclusive, welcoming space ? And would the six years between the last runway and this one affect the overall aesthetic? The answers were yes and no.