As Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz Arena turned pink on Monday evening, the 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show – said to be the most expensive fashion show in the world – made its debut in Asia.
Understanding the fashion show
As Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz Arena turned pink on Monday evening, the 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show – said to be the most expensive fashion show in the world – made its debut in Asia.
Chinese super model Liu Wen gets ready backstage before the 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai on Monday. It is the first time that the show is held in Asia. Photo: Xinhua
Thousands of guests packed the seats in the UFO-shaped stadium, many in black tie and tux, long gowns and stilettos, even though the dress code required only lounge-suit standards.
Online rumors had it that admission to the show was auctioned for as high as 250,000 yuan ($37,700) per person. In an email response to China Daily, the company said tickets were not for sale and attendance at the event was by invitation only.
Photo: news.cn
Every invitee, including members of the media, was required to submit their Chinese ID or passport number and information two months ahead. Airport-like ID and security checks were set up to screen guests.
Divided into six themes, the show featured 55 models in 87 looks. One of the themes was inspired by Chinese blue and white porcelain.
Photo: news.cn
Models walking this year’s runway included Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel and Karlie Kloss, as well as a record number Chinese faces – seven altogether. Apart from familiar names like Liu Wen, Xi Mengyao and He Sui, one of the Chinese models, Wang Yi, was selected to walk by a TV reality show, Road to Runway, out of more than 30 candidates before the event.
Photo:weibo
Photo:weibo
Photo: Chinadaily
Other Chinese faces were pianist Li Yundi and singer Jane Zhang, who joined Harry Styles, Grammy Award-winning artist Miguel Jontel Pimentel and Hamilton Leslie Odom Jr. to give live performances, as perfectly tanned models flaunted big wings and Swarovski crystal-studded lingerie.
Photo: news.cn
Photo: news.cn
Brazilian “angel” Lais Ribeiro wore the $2 million jewel-encrusted Fantasy Bra this year.
Photo:weibo
During the 40-minute show, audience members received the lingerie extravaganza with the frigidity of a symphony concert, despite constant attempts by artists and models to cheer them up and interact.
Photo: news.cn
The Victoria’s Secret show is likely to set a record in viewership this year, as for the first time it is scheduled to be broadcast on three of China’s most popular video portals on the morning of Nov 29 – prime-time for the brand’s exclusive telecast partner, CBS, in the United States. Last year, an estimated 800 million audience members around the world watched the show.
Photo: ELLE weibo
The Victoria’s Secret lingerie brand opened its first retail store in China in March, a four-floor, 1,475-square-meter space on one of Shanghai’s busiest shopping streets, Huaihai Road.
Photo:weibo
It expanded to Chengdu, Sichuan province, and then, just a week before the show, pushed into Chongqing municipality to establish its third location in the country.
Somehow, year after year, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show models make it look like a walk in the park each time they perfectly strut down the runway wearing massive (and heavy!) wings, lingerie and sky high heels. But this year, a slip-up happened.
Photo: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock
Model Ming Xi experienced every model’s worst nightmare when she tumbled to the floor mid-runway during the taping of this year’s show in Shanghai in front of 18,000 people. Xi, who made her fifth VS Fashion Show appearance this year, wore an extravagant ensemble during the A Winter’s Tale section of the show, and as she twirled her chiffon train, the model slipped on the runway and fell down to her knees.
GIF: Weibo
As the audience cheered Xi on after her slip, Gizele Oliveira came out onto the runway next behind her, and stopped to help the supermodel collect her bearings, get back up and continue her walk.
Photo: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock
Photo: news.cn
Photo: ELLE weibo
Source: ecns/people
