In news that will come as a surprise to legit no one, Adriana Lima’s highly-anticipated return to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was equal parts 🥺 and 😭. The Brazilian model is one of the OG Angels and holds the record for appearing in the most Victoria’s Secret fashion shows *ever* and was even named “the most valuable Victoria’s Secret Angel” in 2017.
Following Gigi Hadid, who opened last night’s [Tuesday 15 October] runway, Adriana looked beyond s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g on the catwalk in her first look of the evening: a black lingerie set with so many crisscrossing embellished straps we’re getting dizzy just looking at her. A pink extremely cropped shrug decorated in a black and white plaid print paired with matching tights completed the ensemble, and she wore black heels with fluffy straps that wrapped up and around her ankles.
As for each model’s unique and statement angel wings, Adriana’s were a gold iridescent design that was ripped and shredded in places to reveal the wire frame. It’s giving punk angel vibes.
In case you didn’t know, the last time Adriana graced the brand’s runway was at the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. At the time, the beloved supermodel – who first walked for the retailer in 1999 – strutted solo, visibly tearing up as the crowd rose to its feet to cheer her on during her 19th and then-final show.
Fast-forward to tonight, and the celeb dished on exactly how she was feeling ahead of the event’s 2024 iteration. “I’m so excited to be back in New York City for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show,” she gushed during a convo with E! News. “It’s so exciting because this is where everything started for me back in 1999. I don’t know. It’s insane, it’s crazy,” she added.
And, yes, she even made herself ~human~ by admitting that she had jitters about her return to the runway. “I could not sleep last night. My head was just going, going, going out of excitement. I know exactly where all the cameras are on the runway so I was thinking what I’m gonna do, where I’m gonna look. I was just imagining that.”
Clearly, it all ended up working out for Adriana, who couldn’t have looked more flawless at the show. Still, it warms our hearts to know that supermodels also get nervous, too.
Gretty Garcia is the associate news editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers all things news, entertainment, and pop culture. Before joining Cosmo, Gretty was a social strategist for Mrs. Dow Jones and a features and special projects editor at Editorialist. She holds an MS from the Columbia Journalism School and studied art history at Harvard College.