Earning Their Wings

A pair of wings is the most famous costume in fashion, and one of the hardest to wear. According to Victoria’s Secret, around 500 different pairs have been made for the show. Each one takes about 400 hours of work, and the heaviest ever weighed 40 pounds, roughly 18 kilos, carried down a runway in heels.

Where they are made

For years many of the wings came out of a workshop in Brooklyn run by an artist known simply as Killer, who has worked with the brand for a long time. Coveteur visited in 2018 and found feathers, Swarovski crystals and fabric everywhere. Every pair is a small piece of engineering: it has to look weightless, stay on through the walk and still let the model move.

The numbers

• About 500Different pairs of wings made for the show
• About 400 hoursOf work for each pair
• 40 poundsThe weight of the heaviest pair
• 26Sets of wings worn by Adriana Lima, the record
• 21Sets each for Alessandra Ambrosio and Candice Swanepoel
• 20,000+Crystals on Martha Hunt’s wings in 2015

The most famous pairs

In 2015, under the show’s creative director Sophia Neophitou, Martha Hunt walked with wings covered in more than 20,000 Swarovski crystals, next to a crystal corset by Serkan Cura with more than 90,000. In 2011 Alessandra Ambrosio wore what is remembered as the heaviest pair in the show’s history, while she was pregnant.

They have to look weightless. They are anything but.

When wings go wrong

In London in 2014 Elsa Hosk’s wings hit Ariana Grande, who was performing on the runway. In 2025 the singer Madison Beer was supposed to perform in a pair of wings weighing 25 pounds. The night before the show they were rebuilt at about 5 pounds so she could actually sing in them.

2026: the wings of the night

On 18 October the wings felt bigger and more whimsical than ever. Bella Hadid opened in green, vine-like wings covered in multicoloured flowers. Elsa Hosk’s seemed to span the whole stage, Anok Yai wore some of the tallest of the night, and Precious Lee’s were made of crystals, like a chandelier. Alex Consani wore sculptural metallic gold, Imaan Hammam extra-large apple-green sequins, and the new Angel, Solange Omon, earned hers in tinsel-like gold. Kylie Jenner walked the Fantasy Bra in classic, oversized white feathers.

Sources: Marie Claire · The Zoe Report · IBTimes

Wings were never practical, and that is the point. They are the one moment in the show that is pure fantasy, and the reason a lingerie brand ended up with the most recognisable silhouette in fashion. ✦

Sources: Victoria’s Secret, “By the numbers”, Coveteur (2018), WWD (2015), Wikipedia (the show), Wikipedia (Alessandra Ambrosio), People via AOL (Madison Beer).