Five-hundred million people are expected to tune in to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on Dec. 8, which was taped in New York on Nov. 10. Although every look from the show can now be seen online, the hype for its television premiere, which will air in 192 countries, has only grown.

A typical runway show in the fashion industry has a small crowd of fashion editors and icons in the audience, focuses on one concept and caters primarily to those in the fashion industry and those who want to be. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show defies all of these norms, which makes me wonder if it should be called a fashion show at all.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show ignores the traditional approach of fashion shows’ one central theme or concept. Instead, it is divided into six extremely different segments: “Boho Psychedelic,” “Exotic Butterflies,” “Portrait of an Angel,” “Pink USA,” “Ice Angel” and “Fireworks.” Each of these sections featured their own intricate pieces that expanded beyond bras and panties to include bodysuits, jackets, wraps and of course, wings.

I feel that above all, a fashion show should be about fashion: the purpose of the show in the first place. All shows must also involve models and music, but the clothes are what the atmosphere is created for. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show takes the atmosphere to an extreme, so much so that the clothes lose focus.

This year, The Weeknd, Ellie Goulding and Selena Gomez all performed, in addition to the booming soundtrack that played around the runway. This concentration on music makes me think of the event as more of a concert than a fashion show.

The models are a whole separate attraction, likely drawing more attention than the lingerie they sport. Victoria’s Secret is known for its stunning models, particularly the 15 chosen “Angels” of the year. And when one of the biggest news stories of last week was Kendall Jenner being cast in the show, it is clear that the models are a big deal.

The fashion show section of Victoria’s Secret’s website even includes a segment called “Train Like an Angel,” stating “the road to the runway starts with the workout” and features three exercise routines. It seems to me that the road to the runway would include the clothes actually created for the runway, but instead it focuses on the models’ bodies.

All of this isn’t to say that the fashion aspect of the show isn’t spectacular. The clothes were not anything close to wearable, but that is typical of most true fashion shows. The lingerie is created to be couture, more for the show than the actual purchasing potential. The price points reflect this notion — this year’s Fantasy Bra is worth $2 million.

Lingerie, especially couture lingerie, is certainly a category of fashion, and Victoria’s Secret created extraordinary fashion this year.

In some ways, the audience dictates the feeling of the show. At many fashion shows, entry is exclusive and the designer and his team invite very specific people with particular purposes. Fashion-hungry individuals who aren’t on the guest list wait for photos to go up and pore over the designs wherever they can find access to them.

This closed-off approach gives the show an air of mystery and produces an environment that feels elite, a concept that fashion thrives on. At the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, however, the whole world is watching. Realistically, the whole world is not interested in fashion — they are interested in the show.

Since the audience of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is much larger, more diverse and more commercial than that of a typical fashion show, I understand the need for the show to be entertaining. It is unfortunate that the clothes are not entertainment enough for their audience. For its audience, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is a grand event and a spectacle — but it is not a fashion show.

Jackie Homan is a sophomore magazine journalism major. You can email her at jahoman@syr.edu or follow her @jackie_homan on Twitter.

Published on November 16, 2015 at 10:09 pm