‘Fandomonium’ and a $50 Million Bra: How Vogue Covered the Victoria’s Secret Show

LOS ANGELES — Vogue covered the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show of Sunday, Oct. 18, from several angles: the Fantasy Bra, an exclusive backstage look, the red carpet and, at British Vogue, the beauty. We read all of it. Below is what the magazine reported, with short quotes and a link to each piece.

The bra: “a truly excessive piece of jewelry”

In Vogue’s report on the Fantasy Bra, Max Berlinger wrote that the piece features 4,410 natural diamonds surrounding a 75.54-carat radiant-cut Fancy Vivid yellow diamond, that 15 craftspeople spent more than 1,000 hours building it, and that at $50 million it carried “the highest price (by some $35 million) for a Fantasy Bra to date.”

“A big idea for the show was fandomonium. … a truly excessive piece of jewelry and artistry. It’s almost museum quality.”

— Adam Selman, chief creative officer of Victoria’s Secret, to Vogue

Vogue also quoted the bra’s maker, Jacob Arabo of Jacob & Co., who said his vision “was to create a piece of high jewelry that could be worn as a bra. No fabric, only gold and diamonds.” The same story ran at British Vogue.

Backstage: “divisive” and a “great fashion export”

Vogue’s behind-the-scenes look, also by Berlinger, argued that “there’s a case to be made for Victoria’s Secret being one of America’s great fashion exports”. It cited about $6.5 billion in revenue last year and an estimated 2.9 million viewers for last year’s show. It didn’t pretend everyone agrees:

“It’s no big secret that Victoria’s Secret is divisive—misogynistic to some, old-fashioned fun to others.”

— Vogue, backstage at the 2026 show

Selman told the magazine, “I don’t want to dress women up like dolls or in costumes”, and described the brand as “the American dream, and certainly the American fantasy.”

The red carpet and the beauty

Vogue’s Christian Allaire rounded up the stars at the show, with Nicole Kidman and Law Roach named in the headline. At British Vogue, Violet Hayward wrote about the beauty: Pat McGrath “masterminding the baby winged eyeliner and glitter”, Guido Palau on the blowouts, and the “cashmere nails” that she said “sparked manicure inspiration.”

A year ago, Vogue Business asked the harder question

For context: before the 2025 show, Vogue Business ran “Can Victoria’s Secret crack the fashion show formula?” by Madeleine Schulz. Selman told the outlet, “It’s the spectacle. It’s supposed to be big”. Brand strategist Ana Andjelic was blunter about the brand’s confidence messaging: “This is so 2010 — we know that, we’ve been there.”

Our read

Read together, Vogue treats the show as two things at once: a spectacle built for fans and a big American business. The Fantasy Bra is the clearest example of both. We’ve covered the fan and market reaction in Kylie Jenner’s $50 million bra, the TikTok numbers and the AI runway trend.

Discuss this on the forum

Vogue calls Victoria’s Secret divisive and a great fashion export in the same breath. Which is it? Discuss this on the forum.

Sources

• Vogue: Kylie Jenner Debuts on the Victoria’s Secret Runway in its $50 Million Fantasy Bra (Max Berlinger, Oct 18, 2026)
• Vogue: An Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Look at the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (Max Berlinger, Oct 18, 2026)
• Vogue: All the Stars at the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (Christian Allaire, Oct 18, 2026)
• British Vogue: Kylie Jenner Debuts On The Victoria’s Secret Runway (Oct 19, 2026)
• British Vogue: Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Was All About Cashmere Nails (Violet Hayward, Oct 19, 2026)
• Vogue Business: Can Victoria’s Secret crack the fashion show formula? (Madeleine Schulz, Oct 15, 2025)

Photo: Anthony Perlas / @lillithmagic, from Nightlife Report’s Bureau Fashion Week LA coverage. Not from the Victoria’s Secret show. No AI-generated images were used.