Photo: Getty Images1/12Stephanie Seymour
Runway shows: 1995-2000
Angel contract: 1997-2000
In the beginning, there was Stephanie Seymour, aka the first and most recognizable of the brand’s ’90s faces. If you received a Victoria’s Secret catalog in the mid-’90s, you were treated to Seymour in all her pouty, angular glory staring right back at you. Capable of making the decade’s high-waisted bikinis and push-up bras seem elegant as well as sensual, Seymour brought supermodel grace to the brand’s first televised shows.
Photo: Getty Images2/12Tyra Banks
Runway shows: 1996-2005
Angel contract: 1997-2005
For nearly a decade, Tyra Banks provided Victoria’s Secret with its heart and soul. Blessed with famously pneumatic proportions and a vivacious personality that would later transform her into a multimedia celebrity, Banks gave the show some of its most memorable segments, from providing an improvised flamenco on the runway in 2002 to wielding a scepter during her final show in 2005.
Photo: Getty Images3/12Heidi Klum
Runway shows: 1997-2009
Angel contract: 1999-2010
Heidi Klum’s appeal has always been straightforward: Buxom, blonde, and irrepressibly bubbly, Klum’s obvious charms have helped her become a household name beyond modeling. She often hosted the show in addition to walking it, her work with VS helped take her to the next level as a personality.
Photo: Getty Images4/12Gisele Bündchen
Runway shows: 1999-2006
Angel contract: 2000-2007
Before the pinkification of the VS runway, Gisele Bündchen brought the brand some high-fashion hauteur, courtesy of her power walk and unabashedly sexy persona. Other models played it coy, but Bündchen wasn’t afraid to vamp it up, becoming the show’s ultimate femme fatale in the process. Capable of emerging from a life-size, pink gift-wrapped box while retaining her sophistication, Bündchen classed up the joint throughout her tenure as an Angel, and remains on social media as arguably its most beloved—and hotly missed—presence.
Photo: Getty Images5/12Adriana Lima
Runway shows: 1999-present (except for 2009)
Angel contract: 2000-present
Would it even be a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show without Adriana Lima? A Brazilian bombshell for the ages, Lima has set the standard for sexiness since she arrived on the modeling scene and continues to serve as de facto leader of the Angel posse. With more than 15 years’ worth of Victoria’s Secret experience under her belt, Lima has her routine down pat and regularly serves to show the newbies how it’s done.
Photo: Getty Images6/12Alessandra Ambrosio
Runway shows: 2000-present
Angel contract: 2004-present
When Alessandra Ambrosio began her Victoria’s Secret journey as a baby-faced teen from Brazil, the show was a relatively understated affair. As the show has evolved, so has Ambrosio: She’s become bolder and more confident with each passing year. Always the first to blow a kiss to the audience or dance her way down the catwalk, Ambrosio has become one of the event’s consistent highlights.
Photo: Getty Images7/12Karolina Kurkova
Runway shows: 2000-2010 (except for 2009)
Angel contract: 2005-2009
Karolina Kurkova brought her mile-long legs and strut to the Victoria’s Secret runway for a decade, enlivening the catwalk each and every time. Who else could turn losing a shoe into a bona fide must-see-TV moment or drive Justin Timberlake to distraction with a mere swivel of her hips?
Photo: Getty Images8/12Doutzen Kroes
Runway shows: 2005-2014 (except for 2007 and 2010)
Angel contract: 2008-2014
Some Angels were simply born for the role. While Doutzen Kroes has excelled in her print work with photographers like Steven Meisel and Patrick Demarchelier, it was her time as an Angel that pushed her into the stratosphere: Kroes’s classic beauty and athletic physique made her a shoo-in for VS, and on the catwalk she proved herself a game participant in the show’s over-the-top antics.
Photo: Getty Images9/12Miranda Kerr
Runway shows: 2006-2012 (except for 2010)
Angel contract: 2007-2013
The face! The body! The dimples! As Victoria’s Secret shifted gears toward a glamazon-next-door look, Miranda Kerr’s combination of cuteness and sex appeal proved essential. The Aussie beauty was fast-tracked to Angel status after a tenure as the face of the Pink line. Always playful on the catwalk, Kerr had a knack for pulling off some of VS’s kookier looks, playing everything from a vampy Lady Liberty to a glittery Christmas ornament.
Photo: Getty Images10/12Candice Swanepoel
Runway shows: 2007-present
Angel contract: 2010-present
With her seemingly impossible hourglass proportions and Barbie doll beauty, Candice Swanepoel harkens back to VS’s ’90s-era roots, and has parlayed her Victoria’s Secret success into an incredible editorial career.
Photo: Getty Images11/12Behati Prinsloo
Runway shows: 2007-present
Angel contract: 2009-present
As the resident rock chick of Victoria’s Secret, Behati Prinsloo occupies a special place within the roster. More likely to don a band T-shirt than a gown, Prinsloo brings a carefree energy to one of the most produced shows in existence, and proves to be a perennial fan favorite. Right at home in oversize Angel wings and little else, Prinsloo was upgraded to Angel after an extended stint as the face of Pink.
Photo: Getty Images12/12Karlie Kloss
Runway shows: 2011-2014
Angel contract: 2013-2015
Though she was an Angel for only a scant two years, Karlie Kloss made her mark on the power brand. Kloss’s lithe dancer’s frame proved that an Angel need not be curvaceous to channel her inner vixen, while her dynamic personality made her a must-watch during the show’s interview segments. Kloss and her pop star bestie, Taylor Swift, even provided the show with one of its coolest moments in recent memory as they strutted hand in hand down the runway to Swift’s hit “Style.”
