The secret’s out: students talk Victoria’s Secret fashion show

Just under a week before the models took the runway, it was announced that WNBA star Angel Reese would be walking as a Victoria’s Secret angel. Reese, one of the faces of the WNBA, is no stranger to the spotlight, and she is no stranger to the backlash that followed the news. 

“A lot of people have opinions about Angel Reese being on the show and I just don’t think it matters as much,” biological anthropology sophomore Holly Sawyers said. “[Athletes] were just part of the show and it’s fine. Because I didn’t really notice them in there, there’s so many people part of it. A lot of people just didn’t want her on there. I wouldn’t say she’s unlikable, but I feel like she’s been controversial in the past, and that’s maybe why people [didn’t want her].”

Gymnast and Olympic champion Suni Lee who also walked in the show, shared the sting of the hot seat, receiving criticism after the show. She responded on Oct. 18 with a TikTok captioned “can u guys stop bullying me.” Lee was a part of the PINK portion of the show. PINK is a division of Victoria’s Secret that features more athletic wear and is targeted towards a younger audience.

“I don’t get why people were upset,” humanities prelaw sophomore Ava Eubank said. “I don’t understand any of that. Both [Reese and Lee] are beautiful women. I just don’t understand because they weren’t even in the Victoria Secret part, they were in the PINK part, which was more angled towards sports. So, it made sense why they were there. I don’t understand it because [Reese] is a beautiful woman. Like, she deserved to walk it. She looked great. She out did all her haters, basically.”

Another group who took some heat for participating in the show was “nepo babies” or children/friends of celebrities. Host of the show, Law Roach said to Amy Sedaris, “She’s only here because she knows somebody,” referring to Sedaris’ friendship with Victoria’s Secret creative director Adam Selman.

“The interviews in the beginning were interesting, I thought they were kind of messy,” Sawyers said. “Maybe I’m picking up on this wrong, but one of the interviewers, he was like, ‘You’re only here because you’re a nepo baby’ and was making jokes about nepo babies. And I was like, confused. I’m like, ‘Why would you say that to your guest?'”

Other “nepo babies” in the show included Iris Law, daughter of actors Jude Law and Sadie Frost, and Lila Moss, daughter of model Kate Moss and media CEO Jefferson Hack and more. 

“There were obviously the Nepo babies, like Iris Law or Lila Moss, where they kind of stood out because I feel like they’ve never walked it,” Eubank said. “They definitely stood out way more, just in comparison.”

Model Alex Consani was a favorite of Eubank and neuroscience senior Manasa Nemani.

“I think Alex Consani in particular, she’s very, like, Gen Z coded,” Nemani said. “I feel like just from what I’ve seen online, on social media, she seems to really appeal to more of like a younger audience, just like personality wise. Barbara Palvin also seems very, very sweet. I think for me, I really like her appearance wise. I feel like she has like a really timeless face, but also, I think her and Dylan Spouse are obviously a really cute couple and that was also a big part of the appeal.”

Political theory and constitutional democracy, economics and international relations freshman Melissa Aguilar Gabriel took notice of the mixed reviews she saw online.

“You could see the efforts of the models and the designs that were presented,” Aguilar Gabriel said. “It may not follow the same style as it was like a decade ago or maybe the same impact that it had a decade ago. I think the criticisms some of them are rough, but I do think that it’s not like the best fashion show of at least the last five years.”

Hoping to get into the fashion world in 2022, Aguilar Gabriel turned to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. 

“I just fell in love with it,” Aguilar Gabriel said. “I was just admiring the designs that were presented during the show and all the models that were there. So, I started doing modeling too this year. You also get like that other perspective of like all the effort that models take just to be on the runway to present those designs. [The shows] helped me create my own style too and like, blend both cultures like Peruvian and American and this style that I use today.”

After the hiatus, Victoria’s Secret struggled upon its return from hiatus last year and received some criticism. 

“This year, compared to last year’s I thought was a lot better,” Eubank said. “They took a lot of the criticism well. They brought back the bigger wings and the confetti at the end and making everything not look so cheap like it did last year because people were like, I know, unhappy about that. They brought back the big wings, the big bras, like, all of that stuff, and, um, you know, I thought they, like, did that well.”

Some Michigan State University students got to attend this year’s show as apart of ADV 402. The New York City “industry immersion” was attended by advertising management junior Haley Burton.

Since the trip lined up with the timing of the fashion show, Burton and other students on the trip decided to attend the official watch party hosted by Victoria’s Secret in Penn Square.

“They had these big billboards streaming the show,” Burton said. “They had the large PINK dog, they had people handing out special PINK branded popcorn, they had like sparkling water drinks, they were also giving out candy. They also had like a little photo opp where you could do photos with the PINK carpet. They had like the whole like Victoria’s secret PINK carpet fashion show wall and then they also had a DJ there who was DJing the event, which was really cool.”

Burton’s favorite part of the show was singer Karol G’s performance.

“Really what stood out to me was Karol G,” Burton said. “I’m Latina so I just love to see that representation. I feel like representation is really important right now for our community. So, it just meant a lot to me to see that, and I think she did a beautiful job.”

Madison Beer, Missy Elliot and TWICE were also featured as musical guests.

Next year’s fashion show is presumed to be in late 2026 but the official date is to be announced. 

“I still hope they keep the diversity of the athletes and supermodels in the shows because I think that was really good, especially if younger girls are watching the PINK section, to see these athletes in it,” Eubank said. “I definitely think it’s important. But I hope they’ll maybe put in a little bit more money. I don’t think it looks cheap this year. I just think it’s not like it has been in the past. But I can only hope they keep the confetti and all that good stuff because it was really cool. [This year] they didn’t have costumes, really. It was just like the lingerie, whereas years past, they had all these costumes and like big wings and [this year] they just kind of put lingerie on them, which, I can only hope they bring the costumes back too.”