The rise and fall of the Victoria’s Secret’s Angels 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.