A Look Back at the Earliest Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows
When considering the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, it’s best to focus on its early days. (The brand abandoned its longtime tradition three years ago, around the time former CEO Leslie Wexner’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein were made known.) In 1995, Stephanie Seymour, Beverly Peele, and plenty more supermodels walked a makeshift, livestream-free runway set up in the Plaza Hotel—an event that couldn’t be more different from its more recent iterations, which found Kendall Jenner and her winged cohorts parading down the runway to the tune of performers like Shawn Mendes. In fact, back then, some of the cast was even fully clothed. From there, of course, things steadily ramped up; by 1997, the fashion show had transformed into a celebrity attraction, with Jon Bon Jovi among the crowd watching the runway fill with early regulars like Gisele Bündchen, Tyra Banks, and Heidi Klum. Take a look back at its early legacy, here.
1995
Beverly Peele at the first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York, 1995.
1995
Frederique van der Wal backstage at the first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York, 1995.
1995
Natane Adcock at the first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York, 1995.
1995
Beverly Peele backstage at the first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York, 1995.
1995
Angelika Kallio at the first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York, 1995.
1995
Veronica Webb backstage at the first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York, 1995.
1996
Rebecca Romijn at the 1996 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1996
Tyra Banks backstage at the 1996 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1996
Stephanie Seymour at the 1996 Victoria’s Secret Valentine Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
Naomi Campbell backstage at the 1996 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1996
Tyra Banks backstage at the 1996 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1997
Heidi Klum backstage at the 1997 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1997
Naomi Campbell backstage at the 1998 Victoria’s Secret Pre-Valentine’s Day Fashion Show, with Jeff Probst, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1997
Claudia Schiffer backstage at the 1997 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1997
Rebecca Romijn-Stamos at the 1997 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1997
Naomi Campbell at the 1997 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1997
Georgianna Robertson in a Valentine’s Day ensemble at the 1997 Victoria’s Secret Spring Revelations Fashion Show in New York.
1997
Naomi Campbell at the 1997 Victoria’s Secret Spring Revelations Fashion Show in New York.
1997
A model wearing a black scuba-diving femme fatale corset at the 1997 Victoria’s Secret Spring Revelations Fashion Show, inside the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1998
Naomi Campbell on the runway of the 1998 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
1999
Kirsty Hume wearing a silk handkerchief and a satin thong at the 1999 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York.
1999
Heidi Klum, who wore that year’s $10 million “millenium bra,” and Karen Mulder backstage at the 1999 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
1999
Laetitia Casta at the 1999 Victoria Secret’s Fashion Show in New York.
1999
Tyra Banks at the 1999 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York.
1999
Stephanie Seymour at the 1999 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York.
1999
Gisele Bündchen at the 1999 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York.
2000
Heidi Klum in front of a Concorde jet after arriving for the 2000 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and charity gala for amfAR during the Cannes Film Festival.
2000
Adriana Lima at the 2000 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and amfAR charity gala during the Cannes Film Festival.
2000
Gisele Bündchen at the 2000 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and amfAR charity gala during the Cannes Film Festival.
2001
Alessandra Ambrosio backstage at the 2001 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at Bryant Park in New York.
2001
Karen Elson backstage at the 2001 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show fittings in New York.
2002
Gisele Bündchen backstage at the 2002 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at the Armory in New York.
Gisele Bünchen and company at the 2002 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City.
2003
Gisele Bündchen backstage at the 2003 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City.
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