Tyra Banks revisited her famous angel wings. For the first time in 19 years, the former Victoria’s Secret angel will walk in the lingerie company’s reinstated fashion show in New York City on Oct. 15. Banks, 50, and fellow Angel Gigi Hadid announced the news in an Instagram video, which showed Hadid in a sparkly silver minidress walking into the lobby of a luxe hotel. Banks appeared from the front desk. Initially, her back was turned to show off her black silk letterman jacket that read, “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2024.”
In the video, Hadid tapped the bell, but Banks was too busy rummaging through invitations to the event. Hadid tapped the bell a second time, Banks flipped her hair to turn and face the fellow model. Chappell Roan’s “Femininomeno” played. Banks, founder of Smize ice cream, then flashed her signature “smize,” passed Hadid a gold envelope with the invite, and said, “See ya there.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Banks’ last show on the runway was in 2005. She walked nine shows in total for the brand.ย
The annual event launched in 1995 and was canceled in 2019 amid criticism of lack of diversity. A relaunch happened in September 2023 with a reimagined Prime Video special.
Banks retired from modeling in 2005 after modeling since her early teen years. She made history in her time as a model, becoming the first Black woman to appear solo on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She reinvented the cover in 2019.
“I decided to come back to Sports Illustrated because it is the magazine that changed my life,” Banks, 45, said in an interview that aired Thursday on AM to DM, BuzzFeed News’ morning show on Twitter, BuzzFeed reports.
“I was a very known model, high fashion model,” she said, “but I got on the cover of SI and it made me a household name, almost like in 24 hours, back when the whole world was looking at the same thing all at once.”
