December 12, 2025 |
We call it a fashion show, but the Victoria’s Secret show really does transcend so many sectors of culture. That’s why, whenever I was thinking and dreaming about it, I wanted it to feel like a spectacle, to cut through culture, grab people’s attention and create dialogue and discourse. It was a multi-pronged approach and strategy, and it was fun to do it.
VICTORIA’S SECRET
We didn’t get going on show planning until May and I designed the looks in July. It was quite a short turnaround, so rather than take a big swing in one direction, I had to tackle the things I knew I was good at, that I had the Rolodex for. I approached it as a very earnest genuine thing. I had a lot of personal connections to the casting and talent. I decided I would pick up the phone, call people and design looks for them.
Victoria’s Secret’s Adam Selman
I stepped away from doing shows like this for a while, so my biggest goal was that I didn’t want the show to destroy me, because in the past it has. I didn’t want to feel like I crumbled at the end of it. Eating was the hard part – to just find time to eat lunch. Sometimes I would just go in the corner and shovel something into my mouth. However, I was diligent about keeping my personal schedule. I kept my daily workout and meditation routines: I wake up at 5:20am, get up, make coffee, get back into bed and then meditate for 17 minutes. Then I work out at 6:30am. I also wake up to 20 text messages or more, from the production crew, so after I work out, I head from my apartment in the West Village to the show venue in Brooklyn. It’s about a 30-minute drive and, on the way, I dive into messages about the music, the production, the video content, things like that, so I can answer people quickly. To me, the biggest sign of respect is getting back to people quickly, as opposed to keeping them waiting.
Everything is at the venue. We had an army of tailors in one room. We had the room where the wings were kept. Every day there would be a new unboxing. People would bring things and we were like, “Oh my God, that headpiece”, “Oh my God, that necklace”, or “Oh my God, that belt”. The legendary French stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele styled the show (she is fashion royalty) and we had a whole styling room where we did the castings and the fittings.
VICTORIA’S SECRET
FIVE DAYS TO GO
At this point, Carlyne and I were doing looks together. We started with the Pink line. I was a little nervous because I wanted to get Olympic gymnast Suni Lee, influencers Gabi Moura and Quenlin Blackwell and Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira – it was not your typical fashion crew. I wanted it to feel younger and more like ready-to-wear, in the middle of all the Victoria’s Secret lingerie part. I was nervous to tell Carlyne the exciting evolution of the casting, but she took a lanyard with a little pink dog on it, put it close to her chest and said, “I’m gonna just feel this.” And she did. In the end, I think that was her favourite part of the show because of the spirit and energy they brought. Our styling room was next door to the production set. I would leave Carlyne to do her thing while I looked at the set build, the music and camera-blocking. There was a lot of juggling and me in a golf cart going back and forth.
VICTORIA’S SECRET
FOUR DAYS TO GO
We’re in the intimates’ fittings. We work with two fit models and it’s a full day. We have massive boards of inspiration with renderings of each look. Someone brings the wings in and we try it the way I envisioned it. Carlyne will say “Yes, nah, yes, let’s add jewellery.” We are working the looks, perfecting them. Some of the crystal belts were made super last minute. We had a jewellery maker working around the clock to make things happen.
There’s an extreme amount of engineering, craft and real techniques that goes into it. I had people in Italy who create couture jewellery for the big luxury houses making my jewellery. I had people in Paris making wire structures, like the second look Barbara Palvin wore, which we got beaded in India. We had somebody in Vegas making a lot of the headpieces. There were people in Los Angeles and even Pennsylvania that specialise in making these sorts of show pieces.
VICTORIA’S SECRET
THREE AND TWO DAYS TO GO
My panic started to set in a little bit, because it’s a dream, until it becomes a reality. It was like, “Wait, we’re not getting rid of that. We need that extra shot. That’s part of the story.” Jasmine Tookes came in for her fitting before anyone. She was eight months pregnant and I’m just so blessed that she was willing to do it, especially as one of my messages in the show was about birth and rebirth. I have a personal connection with Jasmine. She walked my first fashion show back when I was nobody on the radar. I showed her the look, the clam shell, which was representative of Venus, and made sure she was comfortable with it. Then I told her the big news: she was opening the show. It was such a real, raw moment.
All the seasoned vets came in for their fittings that day. Paloma Elsesser, Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel. Candice, on her second look, was like, “I don’t want to wear wings, Adam. I love you, but I don’t want to wear wings.” And I’m like, “Oh my God, you don’t have to wear wings, here let’s put you in this.” That’s probably one of the biggest clips going around, of her not in wings. Models would tell us if their shoes hurt or if they were slipping in the stockings and we would make adjustments. I had heard nightmare stories about girls wanting to change their looks but we didn’t have any of that. Everyone was so generous and so down for it. Bella Hadid was my last fitting. She was so happy with her looks. I saw a lot of discourse around the weight of her second look, with the white lingerie and metal fringing. But she was thrilled. After fittings, we would send the girls to set to do the interstitial films with Torso Solutions.
At the end of the night, at around 10pm, after all the fittings were done, I’d go and watch the cameras and do the blocking. We had stand-in models holding placards that would say, like, “Look B10”, so then I could know, “Oh okay, that’s gonna be [basketball star] Angel Reese, and she needs to be seen in a certain way”, or “Oh, we need to see the back of that look”, as it was with the Amelia Gray backless look. That dress was something that only Victoria’s Secret could do in a fun, cheeky way, and it showed off the lingerie. You’re probably never going to see a full backless dress on any other runway. That look has probably been requested the most so far, which is amazing.
VICTORIA’S SECRET
ONE DAY TO GO
That day was all about the hair and make-up tests, with Dame Pat McGrath and [hairstylist] Jawara – the best in the business. Then we do a run through of the whole show, but the girls are not wearing their show looks, because we’re saving that for the dress rehearsals tomorrow.
VICTORIA’S SECRET
SHOW DAY
I got there around 8:00am and most of the models had already started hair and make-up. I was a little nervous to go into that infamous hair and make-up room. It’s a lot, right? There’s a lot of energy and it’s also the models’ time to gather themselves. I went in and saw Pat and Jawara. I kissed the rings. Then I got to see a lot of the models and connect, talk and laugh with them. We had to get people to press. And we had to get people to finish hair and make-up, which meant we only had time for one dress rehearsal – we were supposed to do two. This was the first time we saw the girls in their looks all together and not much went wrong. Originally, we had bigger hair but when we saw it at the dress rehearsal, it didn’t feel as modern and cool as we wanted. So we took the hair down a little bit.
After the run-through I thought: I’ve done everything I can do. I just have to let the chips fall as they may. I had to do some press and the pink carpet, and there were a couple of little fires to put out, but I was in this very zen state and the backstage was very, very cool. And then, the comms went down right before the live show. Luckily, we work with such professionals so the cameramen were able to do it from memory and hand signals. The audience never knew that. The girls lined up and I just kept saying, “Go get ’em. Go get ’em, get ’em, get ’em”.
VICTORIA’S SECRET
Carlyne, Piergiorgio Del Moro, the casting director and I were all watching from the same monitor. It was fun to experience it through Carlyne because she was so happy and so over the top. I was a little bit more in shock. It felt like it was over in a second, but I don’t know if that’s just me disassociating. All the models were getting into a line-up for the finale when Missy Elliott performed [a medley of Get Ur Freak On, Work It and Lose Control]. Everyone got to dance to Missy all together and it was so fun. It was such a celebratory moment to see Gigi, Bella, Alex, Paloma, Angel, all dancing right in front of you, all together. It really was joyful.
We didn’t do an after party this year. I gathered a few of my friends and we all toasted, and then I was in bed at 12:30, but I scrolled for two hours to see what people were saying. I was so happy. It’s the hardest thing to please most people. They want models, they don’t want influencers; they don’t want nostalgia, they want nostalgia. It’s a whole thing. And generally, people seemed happy. People seemed like they got it and they took with them the joy of putting on the show.
Adam Selman is EVP and Chief Creative Officer of Victoria’s Secret and Pink
Taken from 10+ Issue 8 – FUTURE, JUBILEE, CELEBRATION – out now. Order your copy here.
VICTORIA’S SECRET: ANGEL OF MY DREAMS
Photographers ALAN LI and KEVIN TACHMAN
Text ADAM SELMAN as told to CLAUDIA CROFT
Date OCTOBER 15, 2025
Location BROOKLYN NAVY YARD, NEW YORK
Hair JAWARA
Make-up PAT MCGRATH
Styling CARLYNE CERF DE DUDZEELE
Casting PIERGIORGIO DEL MORO
VICTORIA’S SECRET
