Here's an observation from the 2025 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show that would have seemed impossible in 2005: This year's runway cast was more inclusive than the entirety of fashion month.
The annual lingerie spectacle, reintroduced in 2024 after a five-year hiatus (and lots of controversy), used to be known for million-dollar "Fantasy" bras, back-bending faux wings, and women who fit an extremely narrow mold. When the show returned last year, it came with a promise that its "Angels" would look more like the shoppers who buy bras and panties down on earth in its over 1350 stores. The lineup was still otherworldly beautiful, but definitely more diverse.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show doubled down on its promise when announcing its 2025 lineup, models ranged from pro-athletes and Olympians to social media stars and working fashion moms—plus, the most curve representation of any runway this year.
Staged in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday night, the show opened with a nine-months pregnant Jasmine Tookes; continued with modern-day supers Paloma Elsesser and Ashley Graham; and introduced Barbie Ferreira and Precious Lee to the glossy VS runway.
In a surprising development, the 2025 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show stands in stark contrast to the dozens of Spring 2026 runways that just wrapped in New York, London, Milan, and Paris, where representation of mid- and plus-size models hit all-time lows, according to Vogue Business's semi-annual size inclusion study. Only 0.9 percent of 9,038 looks shown were plus-size; two percent were mid-size.
When models like Graham or Elsesser walked for major brands during the official season, they were often the only women above a size 2 on the roster. Those rare castings end up feeling like tokenization—checking a box to have at least someone who's curvy without weaving inclusion into the overall vision of the brand.
At the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, however, models of varied sizes appeared in every segment. Devyn Garcia, Emeline Hoareau, and Ashlyn Erickson, joined Lee, Ferreira, Graham, and Elsesser on the runway. Size inclusion wasn't the only way the runway cast evolved from its late-1990s origins, either: Models from the original Victoria's Secret lineup returned, well into their 40s and motherhood; Alex Consani, who debuted as one of the brand's first transgender models last year, returned, too. LGBTQ representation also ranged from newcomers Quen Blackwell and Ferreira, to Stella Maxwell and performer Madison Beer.
And while some fashion shows might extend a casting offer to a curvier model, but cover her up in a high-neck trench coat while everyone else wears naked dresses, Victoria's Secret gave everyone the same bombshell treatment, blowouts, glittery lingerie, et al. Everyone who wanted to wear one of creative director Adam Selman's ombré slips or crystalline teddies wore one.
Size diversity had been lacking in the international fashion week circuit, especially as houses toyed with trends like panniers and hoop skirts that exaggerated smaller bodies. In light of last night's show, the discrepancy between the shape of the clothes and the women who predominantly model them is even harder to ignore.
No runway show is ever going to be perfectly representative, but at least one is making a continuous effort and improving each year. If an event like the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show can finally make strides, what's everyone else's excuse? As much as the fashion crowd loves nostalgia, it's not 2005.
