With a cavalcade of bedazzled bras, panties and supermodels with bouncy blowouts, the Victoria’s Secret runway show in New York cemented its return to the fashion calendar. It’s almost as though its cultural cancellation in 2019 never happened. #MeWho?

Performers Missy Elliott, Karol G, TWICE and Madison Beer, top-tier models Gigi and Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and underwear that would not survive a single spin in a tumble dryer were reminiscent of the show’s cultural peak, when Taylor Swift performed on the runway in 2013 and 2014. That was before the Victoria’s Secret runway show was cancelled in 2019, finally returning last year with Kate Moss, her daughter Lila, and Cher.

This was not the place to raise ties between sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Leslie Wexner, the former head of Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, who stepped down in 2020. Accusations of harassment and misogyny against former chief marketing officer Ed Razek, who controversially told Vogue he did not think “transsexuals” should be included in the show, before stepping down in 2019, were also silenced by the sound of clacking pink heels on the runway.

Instead, new senior vice president and executive creative director Adam Selman, the former executive design director of Rihanna’s inclusive lingerie label Savage X Fenty, touched up the brand’s roots by focusing on pin-up glamour.

Celebrity guests Sarah Jessica Parker, Chloe Sevigny, supermodel Helena Christensen and The White Lotus actor Patrick Schwarzenegger watched as the lingerie brand reasserted its cultural relevance.

Veteran Victoria’s Secret angels Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima and Candice Swanepoel appeared with new angel, transgender model Alex Consani and outspoken US basketballer Angel Reese, the first professional athlete to appear in the show. A pregnant Jasmine Tookes added to the catwalk’s curve count.

“I didn’t want it to feel like a heritage show,” Selman told Vogue podcast The Run Through. “We’ve got an amazing balance of icons and people that are synonymous with the brand.

“There’s no way to make everybody happy with this show. And I’m at peace with that.

“They want those blowouts, they want that bombshell hair. They want the glitter. They want the thing that Victoria’s Secret is so known for.”

Selman divided the show into categories around female archetypes, the types that involve wearing underwear in public, including: Bombshell; Black Tie and First Light. This is business, at the end of the day, and other categories were based around Victoria’s Secret fragrances, which unlike much of the custom lingerie on the runway, is available to buy in stores.

“At the end of the day, it’s bras and panties,” Selman told Harper’s Bazaar. “I would hope you’re laughing and having a good time in bras and panties.”

The last laugh is happening in head office, with the company’s revenue for the past quarter reaching $US1.5 billion ($2.3 billion), a 3 per cent improvement from the quarter before.

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