Victoria’s Secret Model Adriana Lima Opened Jason Wu’s New York Fashion Week Show!
A very familiar face opened Jason Wu‘s Fall 2014 runway show today in New York City—supermodel Adriana Lima. While no stranger to the catwalk, Lima normally reserves her runway time to walking in Victoria’s Secret’s annual fashion show, so a turn on a high-fashion runway is pretty noteworthy. Lima opened the show in a sharply-tailored black pantsuit paired with a sheer black turtleneck and slicked-back hair—quite a departure from the glittery lingerie and flowing extensions she normally sports for Victoria’s Secret.
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To be fair, this isn’t Lima’s first high fashion turn—she appeared alongside Doutzen Kroes in Miu Miu’s Spring 2013 ad campaign. It’s also become a trend in recent years for onetime Victoria’s Secret Angels to make a show-stealing runway appearance now and then: Gisele Bündchen walked in Alexander Wang‘s Fall 2012 show, Miranda Kerr appeared in Stella McCartney‘s Spring 2014 show, and Karolina Kurkova walked the runway for Zac Posen in his Spring 2013 show, and this season’s Cushie et Ochs show.
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Last season, we asked casting director and founder of Matchbook Kristi McCormick about why so many Victoria’s Secret models were diving into high fashion jobs.
“Victoria’s Secret models are booked based on their editorials, campaigns, and runway jobs,” she said. ” VS rarely picks a model without a full editorial book with tearsheets from around the world. Once the model gets a VS contract, their visibility and exposure increases, making them even more attractive to their current editorial and campaign clients.”
“Once they’re booked after their first VS campaign, they automatically get a new title: ‘VS model Adriana Lima poses for Visionaire cover’ for example. This brings more visibility and press to the clients the model works for. Advertisers and magazines don’t have to pay additional for this added press exposure by using a VS model.”
Lima, interestingly, wasn’t the only Victoria’s Secret Angel in the show. Longtime muse and friend of Wu, Karlie Kloss, closed the show, though she was a high-fashion model first, and an Angel second.
