In most professions, age 32 feels too early for retirement. But in 2005, that was the age when Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show model Tyra Banks took off her angel wings for good. She shifted her focus to her budding TV career, she said. If she had not also been one of the oldest models on the catwalk at the time, new priorities could have been the only reason for her departure.

But we now know what was going on behind the scenes of the lingerie giant in the early 2000s, and what forces might indicate that 32 was somehow becoming too ‘old’ for the catwalk. Before Victoria’s Secret canceled its annual fashion show in 2019 — a spectacle known for over-the-top set dressings and outfits so skimpy they barely counted as lingerie — “sexy” had a limited definition and an expiration date. (At least when it comes to who could model; the brand doesn’t discriminate when it comes to the age of its customers.) The runway casting glorified youth and thinness, sometimes at the expense of the models’ physical and mental health; Many of the breakout models were only 18 years old during their first shows. Every leg was toned and every stomach flat; this was no place for curves. So a woman in her forties or fifties, with visible stretch marks and wrinkles walking alongside them? No one could imagine that at the height of the brand’s power.

But that was then. On October 15, the 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show returned with the promise that the brand had changed, and so had the faces. The breakout stars? The first curve models (such as Ashley Graham, Devyn Garcia and Paloma Elsesser), trans models (such as Valentina Sampaio) and models in their forties and fifties to walk the catwalk. Plus a reunion of stars from the brand’s former class who looked more confident than ever in middle age.

Designers in the fashion world have been casting middle-aged models in their shows for years, albeit occasionally: just look at Batsheva Hay, whose fall 2024 catwalk was populated by women over 40, or the entire selection of Copenhagen Fashion Week , where women with graying hair and botox-free skin are the norm. Still, a catwalk where 15 percent of the models are over 40 seems like progress for a brand with the history of Victoria’s Secret.

On silver, pink-lit bleachers on the Brooklyn Navy Yard stage, the biggest cheers came from the stands as returning faces like Alessandra Ambrosio (41), Adriana Lima (43), Isabeli Fontana (41) and Eva Herzigová (51) walked down the runway paraded. They were still given the freedom to embrace their sensuality, in lace push-up bras and completely see-through lace dresses.

These women are obviously not representative of the average woman in her forties or fifties; thanks to all the modeling checks they’ve collected over the years, they have access to treatments, products and trainers that mere mortals don’t have. In total they were all straight or medium sized. As imperfect as it was, their representation still made a point that is long overdue: that the desire to feel desired or sexy for yourself doesn’t end at the age of 25 or 30.