For nearly two decades, the Victoria’s Secret Angels were more than just models. They were pop-culture icons, commanding the global runway with charisma, glamour, and carefully sculpted wings that symbolized the pinnacle of success in the fashion industry.
The annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which began as a relatively modest event in the mid-’90s, soon evolved into a multimillion-dollar spectacle, blending high fashion with musical performances and theatrics to complement the Angels’ covetable, globally celebrated status.
But the glittering wings would eventually lose their luster. In 2019, amid growing criticism of narrow beauty standards and a shift towards inclusivity in fashion, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was canceled. The brand faced increasing pressure to evolve, as consumers demanded more diverse, empowering representations of women that celebrated individuality over unattainability. What was once an eagerly anticipated event—a highlight of the fashion calendar—disappeared, leaving behind a legacy in need of reinvention.
Adriana Lima
Adriana Lima is a Brazilian supermodel, known for having been one of Victoria’s Secret Angels from 1999 to 2018.
Candice Swanepoel
Candice Susan Swanepoel is a South African model. Since 2007, she has been one of the Victoria’s Secret Angels, and in 2013, she wore the Royal Fantasy Bra at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
Miranda Kerr
Miranda May Kerr is an Australian supermodel, best known as one of Victoria’s Secret Angels from 2007 to 2013, and as the first Australian to do so. Kerr has also worked with Natalie Portman and is the fashion ambassador for Australian label David Jones.
Erin Heatherton
Erin Heather Bubley, known as Erin Heatherton, is an American model who was a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 2010 to 2013.
Bar Refaeli
Bar Refaeli is an Israeli model, presenter, actress, and businesswoman.
Elyse Taylor
Elyse Taylor is an Australian model.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Rosie Alice Huntington-Whiteley is a British model, actress, and fashion designer, best known for her work with Victoria’s Secret and Burberry. In addition to her modeling career, Huntington-Whiteley is also an occasional actress.
Alessandra Ambrosio
Alessandra Corine Maria Ambrósio is a Brazilian supermodel and actress, known for her work as one of Victoria’s Secret Angels from 2004 to 2017.
Doutzen Kroes
Doutzen Kroes is a Dutch supermodel and actress known for having been a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 2008 to 2014. She has been an ambassador for L’Oréal Paris since 2006. Kroes is one of the highest-paid models, with an estimated salary of more than 5 million dollars a year since 2008.
Lindsay Marie Ellingson
Lindsay Marie Ellingson is an American businesswoman, former model, and former Victoria’s Secret angel. She has walked for brands like Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Proenza Schouler, Valentino, and Christian Dior.
Elsa Benitez
Elsa Benítez is a Mexican supermodel. Sonoran agency Albertina Top Models hired her at age 15 before she won the “La Modelo del Año” contest organized by Televisa at 16. This victory forced her to move to Mexico City to pursue her skyrocketing career.
Hannah Jeter
Hannah Jeter is an American model. Audiences worldwide recognize her for her standout appearance in the 2015 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Petra Nemcova
Petra Němcová is a Czech model. She has appeared in several advertisements for well-known fashion brands, including Clarins, Lancaster, and Max Factor.
Cindy Crawford
Cynthia Ann Crawford, artistically known as Cindy Crawford, is an American supermodel.
Lily Aldridge
Lily Maud Aldridge is an American supermodel. Fans primarily recognize her as a prominent Victoria’s Secret Angel who commanded the runway from 2010 to 2018. She has been the face of campaigns for BVLGARI, Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors, Ferragamo, Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo, Balmain, and Levi’s.
Laetitia Casta
Laetitia Marie Laure Casta is a French actress, model, screenwriter, and film director.
Heidi Klum
Heidi Klum is a German model, presenter, businesswoman, fashion designer, television producer, and actress. She is also known for being one of the Victoria’s Secret Angels.
Emily DiDonato
Emily DiDonato is an American model.
Patricia Velasquez
Patricia Carola Velásquez Semprún is a Venezuelan model, actress, philanthropist, and former beauty queen. She competed in Miss Venezuela 1989, placing as a second finalist, and represented Venezuela at the 1989 Miss World pageant.
Maryna Linchuk
Maryna Linchuk is a Belarusian model.
Behati Prinsloo
Behati Prinsloo Levine is a Namibian model known mainly for being one of Victoria’s Secret Angels since 2009, having walked in all the brand’s shows from 2007 to 2015 and in 2018. In 2016 and 2017, she was absent due to her maternity.
Elsa Hosk
Elsa Anna Sofie Hosk is a Swedish model. Known for being a Victoria’s Secret Angel since 2015, she has worked for several leading brands, including Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, H&M, and Guess. Before becoming a model, she was a professional basketball player in her native country.
Elle McPherson
Eleanor Nancy Gow, better known as Elle Macpherson, is an Australian-born supermodel and actress. Her slender and very tall figure earned her the nickname The Body.
Rebecca Romijn
Rebecca Alie Romijn is an American actress and former model.
Ana Beatriz Barros
Ana Beatriz Barros El Chiaty is a Brazilian model.
Paulina Porizkova
Paulina Porizkova is a model and actress originally from the Czech Republic, with Swedish and American nationality.
Josie Maran
Johanna Selhorst Maran is an American model, actress, and entrepreneur. Maran was signed at the age of 17 by the Los Angeles agency Elite Model Management.
Marisa Miller
Marisa Lee Miller is an actress and model known for her appearances in Sports Illustrated and her lingerie shows for Victoria’s Secret. After a stint posing for photographer Mario Testino for fashion magazines such as Vogue, Miller began working for both companies in 2002.
Mini Anden
Susanna Clara Elisabeth Andén, known as Mini Andén, is a Swedish former model, actress, and producer. She is best known for her roles in The Mechanic and Chuck.
Irina Shayk
Irina Valérievna Shaijlislámova, known as Irina Shayk, is a Russian model who has worked for Sports Illustrated since 2007, including a 2011 cover, in addition to numerous campaigns for designers and commercial firms.
Jasmine Tookes
Jasmine Tookes Borrero is an American model. Since 2014, she has been one of Victoria’s Secret Angels, and in 2016, she wore the Fantasy Bra at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. She is currently one of the highest-paid models in the world, according to Forbes magazine.
Brooklyn Decker
Brooklyn Danielle Decker is an American model and actress, known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, including the cover of the 2010 issue.
Alina Vacariu
Alina Văcariu is a Romanian model and actress.
Daniela Pestova
Daniela Pestova is a Czech model.
Raica Oliveira
Raica Oliveira, Brazilian top model and actress, known for her work with numerous companies, including Emanuel Ungaro, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Yves Saint Laurent, Vogue, Chanel, Lancôme, Victoria’s Secret, Pepe Jeans, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, JLO, H&M, Elle, Marie Claire, TNG, Ann Taylor, and XOXO.
Clara Alonso
Clara Alonso is a Spanish model. She has been the face of advertising campaigns for firms such as Guess and Armani Exchange.
Aline Nakashima
Aline Nakashima is a Brazilian model. She was discovered at a modeling contest when she was 17. Nakashima has made two appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, in 2006 and 2007. She works for the Marilyn Agency in New York City.
Eva Herzigová
Eva Herzigová is a Czech-Italian supermodel and actress.
Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Schiffer is a German supermodel. Forbes listed her as one of its most sought-after models, with a fortune of $ 100 million. Alongside Naomi Campbell and Elle Macpherson, she formed a trio of the most famous supermodels of the 1990s.
Fernanda Tavares
She is a Brazilian model.
Fernanda Motta
Fernanda Motta is a Brazilian model, actress, and television presenter. She is a presenter on Brazil’s Next Top Model, the Brazilian version of the show, created by Tyra Banks.
Karlie Kloss
Karlie Elizabeth Kloss is an American supermodel. She was named People’s Best Model in 2008 and ranked among the top 50 models on models.com’s list that year. French Vogue (Vogue Paris) declared her one of the 30 best models of the 2000s.
Adriana Sklenaříková
Adriana Sklenaříková, currently known as Adriana Karembeu, is a Slovakian and French model.
Katya Shchokina
Yekaterina Shchokina, better known as Katya Shchokina, is a Russian model.
Hilary Rhoda
Hilary Hollis Rhoda is an American model.
Famke Janssen
Famke Beumer Janssen, better known as Famke Janssen, is a Dutch actress, screenwriter, film director, and former model. She is known for having played the character of Jean Grey in the first three installments of the X-Men saga.
Lais Ribeiro
Lais Ribeiro is a Brazilian model who has been a Victoria’s Secret Angel since 2015.
Vendella Kirsebom
Vendela Maria Kirsebom is a Swedish model and actress of Norwegian and Turkish descent.
Kim Smith
Kimberly Katherin Smith is an American model and occasional actress.
Natasha Poly
Natalia Sergeevna Polevshchikova, known as Natasha Poly, is a Russian supermodel. Since 2004, she has appeared in advertisements for prominent couture brands, magazine covers, and catalogs.
Jessica Hart
Jessica Hart is an Australian model who was featured in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She is known for her work with Vogue.
Monica Bellucci
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci, known as Monica Bellucci, is an Italian model and actress. She began working as a fashion model for Dolce & Gabbana and Dior before breaking into acting, appearing in films in Italy, the United States, and France.
Kim Cloutier
Kim Cloutier is a Canadian-American fashion and underwear model, known for numerous lingerie, swimwear, and cosmetics campaigns.
Emanuela de Paula
Emanuela de Paula is a Brazilian model. She has been the face of British clothing brand Next and can be seen in the 2009 Pirelli Calendar. She replaced Norwegian model Pernille Holmboe as the brand’s new flagship model for the Swedish fashion brand Gina Tricot.
Olga Kurylenko
Olga Kurylenko is a French-Ukrainian model and actress. She became known and gained international fame after playing a Bond Girl in the movie Quantum of Solace.
Angie Everhart
Angela Kay Everhart is an American actress and model who has appeared in various issues of Sports Illustrated and Playboy magazines.
Sarah Stephens
Sarah Elizabeth Stephens is an English-born Australian television and film actress and model.
Yamila Diaz-Rahi
Yamila Díaz-Rahi, also Yamila Díaz, is an Argentine model. She has been featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue a total of 11 times, and on the cover for the first time in 2002 and again in 2006.
Anna Hickman
Ana Lúcia Hickmann is a Brazilian model and television presenter.
Emma Heming
Emma Heming is a British model and actress.
Magdalena Wrobel
Magdalena Wróbel is a Polish model, known as the former spokesperson for Wonderbra’s Three Degrees of Wonder, and as a Victoria’s Secret model.
Gisele Bündchen
Gisele Caroline Bündchen is a Brazilian supermodel, and very occasionally, a Brazilian film actress. She is recognized as the world’s highest-paid model for 14 consecutive years, and for her modeling style.
Reka Ebergenyi
Hungarian model.
Catherine McNeil
Catherine McNeil is an Australian model. At the age of fourteen, she won a modeling contest organized by Girlfriend magazine. Vogue Paris included her in the list of the 30 best models of the 2000s.
Kimberly Guilfoyle
Kimberly Ann Guilfoyle is an American lawyer, prosecutor, and television personality who was a former adviser to United States President Donald Trump. She studied at the University of California, Davis, and the University of San Francisco, and was a prosecutor in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Tricia Helfer
Tricia Janine Helfer is a Canadian actress and former model, known for playing the enigmatic Cylon model, Number Six, in Ronald D. Moore’s reimagined Battlestar Galactica series and for playing Sarah Kerrigan in StarCraft II and its expansion packs.
Estella Warren
Estella Warren is a Canadian swimmer, actress, and model.
Jennifer Lamiraqui
French model.
Linda Vojtova
Linda Vojtová is a Czech model known for her resemblance to supermodel Gisele Bündchen, earning her the nickname Baby Gisele. Vojtova was the winner of Elite Model Look in 2000, when she was 15 years old.
Veronika Vareková
Veronika Vařeková is a Czech model.
Anouck Lepere
Anouck Lepere is a Belgian model. Lepere was studying architecture in Antwerp when her friends, Dries van Noten and Olivier Theyskens, persuaded her to pursue a modeling career. She started modeling in Paris in 2000, and currently she has a contract with IMG Models.
Izabel Goulart
Maria Izabel Goulart Dourado, known simply as Izabel Goulart, is a Brazilian model, best known for serving as a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 2005 to 2008 and for her work with Armani Exchange and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Jarah Mariano
Jara-Evelyn Makalapua Mariano is an American model of Native Hawaiian and Korean descent, best known for her appearances in the 2008 and 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Landi Swanepoel
Landi Swanepoel is a South African model. She is known for her campaigns for Guess, but her biggest accolade was being cast as the character Sylvia in Peroni’s Nastro Azzurro beer commercial, which pays homage to Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita.
Magdalena Frackowiak
Magdalena Frąckowiak is a Polish model and designer.
Flavia de Oliveira
Flavia de Oliveira is a Brazilian model who participated in the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011 editions of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. She has been on the runway representing brands such as Dior, Valentino, Missoni, Elie Saab, and Chanel.
Niki Taylor
Nicole Renee Taylor is an American supermodel and television presenter.
Megan Ewing
American model.
Kylie Bisutti
Kylie Bisutti is an American author and former model who won the 2009 Victoria’s Secret Model Search competition, broadcast online by CBS, which concluded on December 1 of that year with the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
Pampita
Ana Carolina Ardohain, artistically known as Pampita, is an Argentine model and host. The nickname by which she is known derives from both her native province of La Pampa and a cartoon character created by Horacio Altuna in the late 1970s.
Maria Gregersen
Maria Gregersen is a Danish fashion model. She has appeared on the covers of magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, ELLE, Madame, and Eurowoman.
Maria Ines Rivero
María Inés Rivero is an Argentine catwalk and photography model.
Pania Rose
Pania Rose is an Australian model recognized for her appearance in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition in 2006. Rose was discovered during a CoverGirl pageant.
Ana Paula Araujo
Ana Paula Araújo is a Brazilian model who was featured in the 2007 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She also took part in a body-painting session with artist Joanne Gair in 2007. She has also appeared in ad campaigns for popular clothing designer Liz Claiborne.
Heather Stewart-Whyte
Heather Stewart-Whyte is a British model. She is the ex-wife of Yannick Noah.
Kristy Hinze
Kristy Hinze is an Australian model, actress, and television presenter. Hinze has been featured in Sports Illustrated and in the Victoria’s Secret catalog.
Arlenis Sosa Peña
ArPeñas Sosa Peña is a Dominican model. She is a spokesmodel for the Parisian cosmetics and perfumery house Lancôme. She modeled in the 2008 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which marked her debut as an official model for the brand in 2012, and appeared in several of its campaigns.
Eugenia Silva
María Eugenia Silva Hernández-Gil is a Spanish model and businesswoman. She has been the image of Óscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, and Carrera y Carrera.
Solange Wilvert
Solange Wilvert is a Brazilian model. Wilvert was discovered in a casting at her school in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina. She was 14 years old at the time, but in just four weeks, she had signed a contract with New York.
K. D. Aubert
Karen Denise Aubert, also known as KD Rose, is an American actress, model, and singer. She owns her own record label, Roseland.
Bianca Balti
Bianca Balti is an Italian model.
Shannan Click
Shannan Marie Click is an American model. She has appeared in various issues of Vogue and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show from 2008 to 2011.
Michelle Alves
Michelle Kristine da Silva Alves is a Brazilian model.
Kara Young
Kara Young is an American model and businesswoman. As a model, she has represented various cosmetics companies, appeared three times on the covers of Vogue and Playboy, served as an entertainment news correspondent for Fox News Channel, and co-founded a hair product company and salon.
Julie Ordon
Julie Ordon is a Swiss model and actress.
Valeria Mazza
Valeria Raquel Mazza is an Argentine model, host, and businesswoman. She was the first supermodel born in Latin America.
Teresa Lourenco
Teresa Lourenco is a model from Trinidad and Tobago.
Isabeli Fontana
Isabeli Bergossi Fontana is a Brazilian model.
Carmen Kass
Carmen Kass is an Estonian supermodel and the president of her country’s national chess league.
Hana Soukupova
Hana Soukupová is a Czech model best known for her appearance in Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows and Victoria’s Secret catalogs.
Taylor Hill
Taylor Marie Hill is an American model known for being one of the Victoria’s Secret Angels. She has worked for prestigious brands such as Chanel, Balmain, Carolina Herrera, and Giorgio Armani, among others. She has been named Model of the Year 2015 on social networks, chosen by the public.
Barbara Palvin
Barbara Palvin is a Hungarian model and actress. She is known for having participated in the 2012 and 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows. Since 2019, she has been an official brand ambassador. She is also known for having acted in the 2014 film Hercules.
Gigi Hadid
Jelena Noura Hadid, better known as Gigi Hadid, is an American model. She was signed to IMG Models in 2013. In November 2013, Hadid debuted in the Top 50 Models ranking on Models.com. In 2016, she was named International Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council.
Kendall Jenner
Kendall Nicole Jenner is an American model, businesswoman, and television personality. In 2017, she became the highest-paid model in the world, according to Forbes, with earnings of $22 million, dethroning Gisele Bündchen, who had held the top spot since 2002.
Bella Hadid
Isabella Khair Hadid, better known as Bella Hadid, is an American supermodel. In 2014, she signed with IMG Models, and in 2016, she debuted at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
Grace Elizabeth
Grace Elizabeth Harry Cabe Krause is an American model known as a Victoria’s Secret Angel since 2019. She became known for her appearance as a «Guess» girl and for her current role as a spokesperson for the Victoria’s Secret subsidiary, PINK.
Moon Bijl
Luna Bijl is a Dutch fashion model. She is known as one of the muses of the late designer Karl Lagerfeld. Bijl currently ranks among the Top 50 models in the fashion industry. In 2018, she appeared on 8 Vogue covers, including Vogue Paris.
Alexina Graham
Alexina Lorna Graham is a British model, known since 2019 as an official Victoria’s Secret Angel, the second British person to achieve it, behind Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. She in turn, she is also the first redhead to do so. In addition, she is a brand ambassador for L’Oréal Paris.
Bregje Heinen
Bregje Heinen is a Dutch model and former Victoria’s Secret model.
Victoria’s Secret now moves toward a more human touch as the era of the glittering wing gives way to a legacy of true reinvention. While the brand once prioritized unattainability, it now faces the exciting challenge of celebrating diverse, empowering representations of every woman.
