Glittering end to skimpy show
Models celebrate at the end of the 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai on November 20.
Victoria's Secret annual fashion show made its debut in China’s growing lingerie market in typically brazen style but with added Chinese flair. English heart-throb Harry Styles headlined the musical acts who performed as the world’s top models graced the catwalk in skimpy underwear at the MercedesBenz Arena.
The US lingerie brands the annual event as the sexiest show on earth. Now in its 23rd year, the show has been criticized for leaning heavily toward Western models, but this year it featured a record 55 women from 20 countries. They included eight from China — also a new high — led by the country’s top model Liu Wen, the first Asian on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s highest paid fashion divas. She reveled in the excitement of “walking” in her homeland.
Liu Wen on the catwalk.
“The VS show is different each year, but this time it is even more special because it is in China and in Shanghai,” Liu, 29, told reporters ahead of the show. “We can be thankful that China is such a big market, so there could be so many Chinese faces appearing. So personally I feel proud of my own country.”
Victoria’s Secret is hoping to win a slice of that market with the opening of its first two superstores in China — in Shanghai and Chengdu.
Elsa Hosk, Lily Aldridge, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima and Candice Swanepoel attending the Victoria´s Secret Fashion Show at the Mercedes-Benz Arena Shanghai in Shanghai, China on November 20, 2017.
Xi Mengyao attending the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Mercedes-Benz Arena Shanghai in Shanghai, China on November 20, 2017.
Alessandra Ambrosio attending the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Mercedes-Benz Arena Shanghai in Shanghai, China on November 20, 2017.
Singer Miguel and Leomie Anderson attending the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Mercedes-Benz Arena Shanghai in Shanghai, China on November 20, 2017.
