Cher has been announced as a performer at the upcoming Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
The lingerie brand revealed that the 78-year-old music icon will perform “live on the runway” in a video posted on its Instagram account.
The video featured clips from Cher’s music video for Believe and announced her as her musical guest.
“It’s a woman’s world, so you can’t have a fashion show without the mother of fashion herself: @Cher,” Victoria’s Secret wrote in the caption of the post.
“We’re beyond excited to announce that she will officially be performing at the 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. But she won’t be alone…stay tuned for more announcements to round out our first-ever all-female lineup. #VSFashionShow.”
Superstar Cher has been announced to perform at the upcoming Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show; pictured in May 2024
She will follow in the footsteps of Taylor Swift and The Weeknd, who have performed at previous Victoria’s Secret shows.
The fashion show makes a triumphant return this fall after a four-year hiatus.
The event will take place on October 15 in Brooklyn, New York, and features personalities such as Gigi Hadid, Tyra Banks and Paloma Elsesser to walk the runway.
The fashion show was cancelled in 2019 after dealing with poor ratings and a host of controversies, and has since made an effort to become more inclusive.
But in May it announced that the show will return later this year.
Victoria’s Secret announced the big news with a post on Instagram, telling fans: “We’ve read the feedback and we’ve listened.”
“The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is BACK and will reflect who we are today, plus everything you know and love – the glamour, the runway, the wings, the musical entertainment and so much more. Stay tuned… it just gets more iconic from here on out,” VS promised its followers with the hashtag #VSFashionShow.
The brand returned with a “reimagined” Victoria’s Secret World Tour Prime show in 2023 that was not well-received: people found the show boring compared to its ’90s and early 2000s heyday.
Victoria’s Secret has had to deal with more than a handful of controversies in recent years.
The fashion show is making its triumphant return after a four-year hiatus this fall; pictured here, the 2018 fashion show
Taylor Swift performed at the VS Fashion Show in 2013
The Weeknd also performed at the 2016 fashion show.
Bella Hadid pictured walking the 2017 fashion show in Shanghai
In 2020, an explosive report in The New York Times claimed that Victoria’s Secret owner Les Wexner mocked the retail industry’s efforts to advocate for women of different body types.
The Times interviewed more than 30 executives, employees, contractors and models and reviewed court records to find a toxic culture of sexual harassment.
Employees said Wexner mocked the retail industry’s efforts to embrace a variety of body types by allegedly saying, “Nobody goes to a plastic surgeon and says, ‘Make me fat.'”
Wexner is also said to have berated employees for their weight, even shaming one employee for asking for seconds at a buffet.
Now, though, she’s attempting to return to her fashion show roots, with a show that will be updated but sure to include some nods to the ’90s Angels.
Following the backlash, the lingerie company revamped its brand in an effort to appeal to Gen Z and named new brand ambassadors, including soccer player Megan Rapinoe and transgender model Valentina Sampaio.
The classic mall brand also faced stiff competition from more inclusive lingerie brands, such as Kim Kardashian’s Skims loungewear line and Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty.
Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty shows became must-see events filled with models of all sizes.
It wasn’t just the company that had problems, some of the Victoria’s Secret stores also had their share of problems.
In 2023, the chain faced significant criticism for its handling of a complaint from a trans woman who claimed she had a “dehumanizing experience” in one of its stores while trying on bras.
Now, though, she’s attempting to return to her fashion show roots, with a show that will be updated but sure to include some nods to the ’90s Angels.
