Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show takes place in Paris

Taylor Hill at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in Paris, France. Photo obtained through Creative Commons through fair use.

Audrey Mannion

One of the hottest and most prestigious catwalks of the year returned to television with 51 models and 68 different looks in the City of Lights. The 22nd annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show aired Dec. 5 on CBS.

This year’s show took place in Paris and included six different segments: Road Ahead, Mountain Romance, Pink Nation, Secret Angel, Dark Angel and Bright Night Angel. Within each segment, artists including Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and The Weeknd performed while world famous models walked the runway.

Unlike previous shows, the L Brands’ company shared their behind-the-scenes secrets with the world. Social media superstars and models including Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima updated fans on everything from fittings to getting on the plane.

With the help of Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, the Victoria’s Secret Angels had no problem taking over the internet to prepare for the show. Angels like Jasmine Tookes and Taylor Hill took to Instagram to post and reveal pictures of this year’s “Fantasy Bra”, the most glamorous outfit of the show bestowed upon the year’s most valuable angel. This year, the Fantasy Bra was created with $3 million worth of jewels.

Victoria’s Secret posted video and picture polls on Snapchat about show preparation, from model workouts to model reactions after casting sessions. Here, fans could vote on which workout technique or outfit they liked best. This interaction between the show’s creators and fans allowed people to get involved and become more excited about the event.

The angels’ success on social media led to the show’s streaming in over 200 countries. Within the show, the social media usage connected the fashion, fantasy and entertainment with the world and published pink carpet interviews, model profiles and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the show.

Victoria’s Secret also used social media after the show to continue promoting their clothing, along with thanking everyone involved. Ed Razek, the chief marketing officer of Creative Services of Limited Brands, took to Instagram to praise the models and the brand on their success.

“These incredible women raised well over $3 million for various charities last night at #vsfashionshow16…We don’t sell tickets to this invitation only event, but charities have used them to produce record fund raising, and all for important causes. Thank you ladies. You all truly are very real angels,” Razek wrote in the post.

Victoria’s Secret may have spilled some information along the way, but only did so in order to attract more attention. Using the right amount of social media, the brand captivated new viewers and followers, allowing the 2016 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show to be a success.