The much-anticipated Victoria’s Secret runway show, often dubbed the “Super Bowl of the girly girls,” returned on October 15, 2025, with a new look and a new attitude. Once the brainchild of Ed Razek, who fiercely protected his vision, the Victoria’s Secret live fashion show became a cultural phenomenon, celebrated for its glitzy spectacle but long criticized for its narrow standards of beauty and exclusionary practices.
For decades, Victoria’s Secret sold a fantasy—one that was as lucrative as it was controversial. The brand’s televised runway shows were infamous not only for their dazzling displays but also for their rigid, often bigoted, requirements about who could participate in the fantasy.
In 2013, pop superstar Rihanna performed at the Victoria’s Secret show, debuting her song “Phresh Out the Runway” in a striking pink lingerie set. While her performance was widely praised, it also highlighted the persistent undercurrent of racism in the industry—many viewers simply did not see Black women as part of the Victoria’s Secret fantasy.
Rihanna responded by launching her own lingerie line, Savage X Fenty, in 2018. Her live shows celebrated bodies of all shapes, sizes, colors, and abilities, signaling a new era of inclusivity and spelling the beginning of the end for Victoria’s Secret’s old guard. Savage X Fenty’s success, including a hit television special and Rihanna’s rise to billionaire status, forced Victoria’s Secret to confront its outdated ideals.
But the company’s marred history reared its ugly head in 2020 when an expose in the New York Times titled ‘Angels in Hell revealed an environment that fostered harassment and exploitation at the highest levels.The pressure mounted as more revelations surfaced about Victoria’s Secret’s toxic culture. In 2020, owner Lex Wexner dismissed calls for greater size diversity with the infamous remark, “Nobody goes to a plastic surgeon and says make me fat.” Meanwhile, Savage X Fenty thrived by embracing diversity and authenticity.
In August 2024, a pivotal shift occurred when Hillary Super, CEO of Savage X Fenty, moved to Victoria’s Secret, taking the helm with an $18 million contract. Building on the groundwork laid by former CEO Martin Waters, who had begun to prioritize comfort and inclusivity, Super was tasked with reinventing the brand for a new generation.
The results were on full display at the 2025 Victoria’s Secret runway show, the most diverse in the company’s history. The lineup featured models like Quinn Blackwell, sports stars such as Angel Reese, and plus-size model Precious Lee. The runway showcased a spectrum of heights, sizes, and skin tones, from 5’2” to 6’4” and size 2 to 16, from beige to umber—everyone was represented.
History was made when Jasmine Tookes became the first pregnant woman to open the show, striding down the runway in a stunning gold knitted dress that celebrated her pregnancy with confidence and grace.
Victoria’s Secret, once on the brink of extinction, has been forced to evolve—thanks in large part to a black woman’s vision and the pressure her success applied. The brand’s latest show proves that fantasy can be for everyone, and that real change is possible when the industry’s biggest players are made to work for it.