This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UC Berkeley chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
The 2025 Victoria’s Secret Fashion show was one of the top fashion/pop culture events to take place in the month of October, with the performance highlight consisting of Madison Beer, K-pop superstars, TWICE, Latin Pop singer, Karol G, and female hip-hop pioneer, Missy Eliot. This marks a third year of reviving the once iconic show after Victoria’s Secret stopped production, with the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show being the last show before its revival in 2023.
Many of the highlights in the show included the model casting list, consisting of show alumni Adriana Lima, Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid, Candace Swanepole, and Jasmine Tookes who opened the show, pregnant with her second child. The pregnancy glow is definitely shining through.
Aside from the glittering performances, this year’s fashion show has further showcased the show’s revitalized rise in pop culture relevance, production, and star power, while still highlighting the show’s biggest gap, which is the lack of creative fantasy in the clothes.
What I loved the most about this year’s show was the choice of casting in different body types as a way to display the diversity that comes with womanhood. This showed how anyone, regardless of nationality, can be seen as glamorous. When Victoria’s Secret veteran, Jasmine Tookes, was the first model to open up the show, I was stunned by the confidence and beauty displayed as she walked down the catwalk, displaying her pregnancy bump while beaming into the camera with a Hollywood smile. As a young woman watching from home, I found the moment to be empowering, since within the fashion industry, models who are also expecting mothers aren’t usually pictured as glamorous. Furthering that idea with the casting of Olympic Gold Medalist, Suni Lee, as a representative for petite Asian models felt like a statement of comfort and confidence for anyone who never felt like they could have that “supermodel glamour” because of their height.
Although Victoria’s Secret listened to past criticism and heavily improved on the diversity of the models, everything else about the show felt lackluster, especially the outfits chosen throughout the show. What made the original iterations of the show so memorable was the creativity found in the lingerie styles and the iconic Angel Wings. Each section of the show had its own individual theme, with this year’s section being First Light, Bombshell, Halftime Show for sub-brand, PINK, Hot Pursuit, Magic Hour, and Black Tie as the show’s closure.
At first glance, each of the outfits felt lackluster within design, as many of the outfits felt commercialized to the point where they looked like pieces that were displayed on store shelves months before the show was announced. The outfits were further styled with Angel wings that looked like they were either made by arts and crafts wires or Christmas tinsel. Although the show intended to sell clothing while simultaneously entertaining viewers with the musical acts, there’s still the desire as a viewer to see more creativity and fun in the outfits. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is all about displaying glamour and an escapist fantasy, not an overload of singular colors to be called a show section. The design of the wings for this year’s show was a mixture of creative execution, with some of the designs showcasing the brand’s glamorous identity, while others felt lackluster.
Despite the show’s hit and miss moments, there is overall progress in this year’s show. From the 2023 documentary, “The Tour ‘23.” there was a significant improvement in production and vision for the show this year. Yet there still needs to be a lot done creatively to rejuvenate the show’s legacy. As a viewer who breathes fashion, I’m rather optimistic for the show’s future, and as much as the clothing was a let down stylistically, it’s left me wanting to come back next year to see any potential growth.