In 2021, Victoria's Secret retired its long-running Angels model programme. The brand is now preparing to produce a YouTube docuseries titled "Angels Among Us" and is on the verge of announcing its next ambassador to the programme.
From a pool exceeding 100,000 hopefuls, the field has been reduced to three finalists, and the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Los Angeles on Sunday, October 18, will feature whichever of them earns a spot on the runway. On Thursday's broadcast, Andreína Martínez Fournier, Solange Omon, and Tatyana Tinsley — the three contestants still in the running — each put together a victory announcement clip featuring rain and glitter, ready to air should any of them take the title. On Sunday's broadcast, a modelling contract with IMG Models — available exclusively to the winner — will be awarded alongside the formal announcement.
The question of whether the brand had truly moved past the Angel identity resurfaced alongside the rivalry, despite a decision taken in 2021 to phase out the designation and introduce a fresh roster of representatives under the VS Collective name. A company statement at the time framed the Angels as a widely recognised chapter of the brand's past that it intended to carry forward through an updated approach.
A Victoria's Secret representative conveyed via email to a news outlet that feedback from women who aspired to join the Angel programme had directly shaped the creation of "Angels Among Us," adding that Angel status now centres on honouring personal identity, self-assurance, and the kind of authentic presence that resonates with those around them. The brand's statement expressed anticipation about introducing its latest Angel and promised further details following Sunday's announcement, with the three candidates vying for the role being Andreína Martínez Fournier, Tatyana Tinsley, and Solange Omon.
Martínez Fournier has previous experience at the international level. Pageant recognition at the national level came her way in 2021, when she took the Miss Dominican Republic title, and the following year she placed third overall at Miss Universe. At her "Angels Among Us" audition, Victoria's Secret creative director Adam Selman offered positive remarks about her runway technique while also raising the question of whether her pageant background would translate to the demands of fashion work.
Raised in the Bronx, Tinsley stepped into the modelling world in 2019 and has since accumulated a body of work spanning commercial shoots, editorial features, and runway appearances. A runway appearance in Sherri Hill's spring 2027 collection at New York Fashion Week came just weeks before the Victoria's Secret contest narrowed its field to three finalists.
Raised in Cameroon, Omon has since put down roots in Maine. Port City Models holds her representation, and runway appearances at multicultural fashion events are part of her professional portfolio.
An open casting call for aspiring models, put out by Victoria's Secret, set the process in motion that April. Four cities — Chicago, Houston, Miami, and Los Angeles — hosted auditions, drawing in Selman alongside talent scouts from IMG Models to evaluate prospective candidates.
The six-episode docuseries made its debut on September 27, helmed by a director whose prior work spans Netflix's "Victoria Beckham" and "Pop Star Academy: Katseye," with Boardwalk Pictures — the outfit behind "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders" and "Chef's Table" — attached as a producing partner on the project.
Speaking to a television news outlet that September, Victoria's Secret's chief marketing and customer officer, Elizabeth Preis, attributed the runway idea directly to feedback gathered from the brand's own shoppers, explaining that throughout the preceding year the company had been closely monitoring what its audience found meaningful about the brand — a listening process that ultimately raised the question of whether someone from within that customer base might walk the show. Preis also noted that archive footage from past runway events — including clips of the intricate wing construction process and models getting ready in the wings — had drawn a strong following, adding that audiences are drawn to the feeling of having access that most people never get.
Launched under the Victoria's Secret banner in 1997, the Angel label took shape through a lingerie line whose promotional imagery featured five models — Tyra Banks, Helena Christensen, Karen Mulder, Daniela Peštová, and Stephanie Seymour — giving the name its enduring commercial identity. Wings first appeared on the catwalk during 1998, entering the world of fashion presentation for the very first time.
In the span of roughly two decades, the Angel designation at Victoria's Secret grew into one of the most pursued contract arrangements anywhere in the modelling industry. Among those featured on the talent list were Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima, Gisele Bündchen, Candice Swanepoel, Miranda Kerr, and Alessandra Ambrosio, six names whose individual profiles had each become well established within the modelling world by that point. Klum, who came aboard the brand in 1999 and earned the nickname "The Body," and Bündchen, whose contract with the label began a year later, each carved out a distinct place in the industry — with Bündchen's career trajectory placing her among the top earners in modelling globally.
During her tenure at the organisation, Banks worked to expand opportunities for Black models, helping to widen access to an industry where representation had long been uneven.
Elsa Hosk carried the Fantasy Bra at the 2018 edition of the show, which marked the final time the piece was presented on the runway. Victoria's Secret has turned to luxury jeweller Jacob & Co. to craft a revived Fantasy Bra for Sunday's runway presentation, the piece returning after an eight-year gap in the programme. Designed around Jacob Arabo's proprietary Angel-Cut diamonds — among them a centrepiece carrying a $22 million valuation — the piece was described by Arabo in a video shared on Victoria's Secret's Instagram account, where he noted that his aim went beyond setting a price record, stating that the diamonds themselves, along with the way they catch and carry light, were the driving considerations. The total worth of the creation has not been made public, and the identity of the model set to wear it at Sunday's show remains undisclosed.
Voices calling for broader body-size representation in the brand's aesthetic grew louder as the final years of the 2010s unfolded. Remarks Ed Razek made about transgender and plus-size models drew public criticism directed at the then-chief marketing officer in 2018. Attendance at the fashion show had been tapering off for a period, and organisers removed it from the following year's schedule.
In 2021, a newly formed roster of women called the VS Collective took shape at Victoria's Secret, stepping into a brand ambassador role that the company's longstanding Angels had previously held. Among those who joined as founding members were footballer Megan Rapinoe, actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas, alpine competitor Eileen Gu, models Paloma Elsesser, Adut Akech, and Valentina Sampaio, along with photographer Amanda de Cadenet. Advertising for the label expanded to put a broader spectrum of physiques and appearances in front of consumers.
Described as blending fashion film with documentary, the project Victoria's Secret released in 2023 carried the name "The Tour '23." After a year away from live production, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show returned to the runway. Returning to the lineup alongside Banks and Lima were figures including Ashley Graham, Alex Consani, and Sampaio.
At the 2025 edition, WNBA athlete Angel Reese made history as the first professional sportswoman to take to the runway. At the time of the announcement, the label designated Reese as its latest Angel, a title tied to her runway introduction and a worldwide partnership with the house. A brand campaign featuring her ran in April 2026.
A push to revive the Angels concept has coincided with a broader brand overhaul at Victoria's Secret, one that Hillary Super has been steering since stepping into the chief executive role in 2024. A ticker-symbol update took effect that month, with the company swapping its New York Stock Exchange designation from VSCO to VSXY. That revision came into force during June.
Dubbed "Fandemonium" by Selman, the production's confirmed roster spans Lima, Swanepoel, Graham, Elsesser, Gigi Hadid, Grace Elizabeth, Joan Smalls, Liu Wen, Anok Yai, Precious Lee, Imaan Hammam, Amelia Gray, and Alex Consani, with additional participants expected to round out the lineup. Her availability for the upcoming fixture has been confirmed.
Four acts are lined up to take the stage — Megan Thee Stallion, Tate McRae, Megan Moroney, and Katseye. Alongside the televised broadcast, AMC theatres at a handful of locations will host live screenings of the Victoria's Secret show for audiences wanting a cinema experience. Viewers can catch the 2026 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show across the brand's YouTube channel, Instagram, and TikTok, with the broadcast set to get underway at 4:30 p.m. PT — or 7:30 p.m. ET — on Sunday, October 18.
