Carla Bruni Dazzles With Avant-garde Fringe Wings and Lacy Look for Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2024 Runway Debut

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With a dazzling set of wings strapped on, Carla Bruni made for a devilish angel for her Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show runway debut on Tuesday in New York.

The supermodel strutted down the catwalk in a black corset top and underwear overlaid with a sheer lace bolero and tights. Her avant-garde wings featured black beads, paired with black and silver heels with similar dangly detailing.

Bruni is no stranger to the runway, rising to fame in the ‘90s as a model for brands including Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Chanel and Versace. But her Victoria’s Secret appearance might have carried special significance, coming a year after she publicly announced her 2019 breast cancer diagnosis via Instagram.

Carla Bruni on the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on October 15, 2024 in New York, New York. — Carla Bruni on the runway at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on October 15, 2024 in New York, New York. Masato Onoda

After a six-year hiatus, the American lingerie company’s televised runway show returned with a focus on diversity, inclusion and plenty of starry supermodels.

“It will always be about feeling sexy,” Janie Schaffer, the brand’s chief design and creative officer, told WWD before the show. “We are Victoria’s Secret. But it’s sexy for everybody. We have 57 bra sizes. We go all the way up in bra sizes. We have a fully inclusive and beautiful collection of lingerie, and we really wanted to celebrate that on the runway.”

Victoria’s Secret 2001 runway caused a sensation, prompting 12.4 million viewers to tune in, but the brand’s annual television special was canceled in 2019, and Ed Razek, the fashion show’s longtime chief marketing officer, left following a backlash against his refusal to hire plus-size or transgender models.

At the time, a 2020 exposé in the New York Times alleged a “culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment.”

Now, after the recent appointment of a new chief executive officer — former Savage x Fenty CEO Hillary Super — Victoria’s Secret took the leap back into prime time.