ANGELS IN EXILE

The rise and fall of the Victoria’s Secret runway — and their hot marquee models

On Wednesday, Victoria’s Secret announced official plans to replace their once vaunted Angels, the stable of supermodels who strutted down the runway in the glitzy annual fashion show that was often dubbed the Super Bowl of lingerie. Current Victoria’s Secret CEO Martin Waters went as far as to say that the Angels were not “culturally relevant.”

The sexy show was quietly halted in 2019 after the beleaguered brand was tied to a multitude of scandals including complaints about a lack of diversity, plunging show ratings, declining sales and L Brands founder Les Wexner’s cozy relationship with accused child sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein.

But for nearly two decades, the show and its models shaped pop culture, launched careers, controversies and headlines.

“Back in the day, becoming an Angel was proof that you had arrived at supermodel status,” said Aliza Licht, author and host of the “Leave Your Mark” podcast. The Victoria’s Secret show and campaign helped turn a virtual United Nations of catwalkers such as Gisele Bündchen, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum and Alessandra Ambrosio into household names. And it didn’t just stop at lithe ladies. The extravaganza featured chart-topping singers and pushed broadcasting boundaries with the sexy display.

“This was exemplified by the crossover success of the fashion show to globally broadcasted network television, starting on ABC in 2001. Cries of indecency to the FCC from the public didn’t slow them down,” said Licht.

The Angel universe even turned the trainers, who toned the models’ gamine bodies, into bona fide influencers.

But after a two-decade run of holding a monopoly on the lingerie world, the brand was saddled with baggage, unable to pivot and grow with fashion’s new edict of “inclusivity.” The Angels fell to Earth.

Licht said, “The world has changed, though, and today’s Angels are more likely health-care workers and activists than lingerie-clad models.”

As the chapter is officially closed, here are some of the show’s sexiest, most controversial and defining moments.