The Victoria’s Secret holiday fashion show isn’t a fashion show in the conventional sense. You’re not likely to see women in angel wings, bustiers overflowing with popcorn, or any of the other phantasmagorical fashions on the runway in the real world anytime soon. It is, however, a symphony in branding, an elaborately produced, entertaining half-hour ad for Victoria’s
Secret that has continued to get bigger since it was first televised five years ago. This year the show burst out of its relatively tight New York quarters to make its Hollywood debut, an event celebrated with several modelcentric pre-events. Gisele Bundchen and her ilk waved goodbye on the tarmac in New York before boarding the Victoria’s Secret plane to Burbank, where they waved hello on the tarmac there; models received the key to the city from Hollywood’s honorary mayor at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and then went on a staged shopping spree at the Victoria’s Secret next door.
The main event was the half-hour fashion show, with giant LED screens and performances by Justin Timberlake and a gospel choir. The show, produced by Done and Dusted and set for broadcast on CBS on December 5, took place at the Kodak Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards show. With fashion show direction and coordination by OBO, the collection was divided into flirty themes like “coquettish fetish.” Under the guidance of Sara Tervo, Victoria’s Secret’s director of public relations, the post-party for 1,400 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel picked up a few of the fashion-show themes and translated them into lush environments for dining, dancing, and cocktails.
Guests arrived at the hotel foyer to find a room inspired by the “femme fatale” sequence. Working from storyboards from the fashion show, event producer Russell Harris Event Group and Tom Ford Designs turned the lobby into a golden lounge designed to evoke 40’s glamour. The focal point was a tiered chandelier in the center of the room, adorned with strands of yellow beads that took eight people four hours to attach by hand. Surrounding it at the base was a circular banquette covered with gold leather. Above the bar were three 60-inch plasma screens, which played an instantly edited loop of the fashion show. Planners kept the food light in the foyer—there was a bar for shrimp and oysters—to encourage the flow of guests into the next room and the outdoor pool area, where touches of plaid evoked the “highland romance” section of the show.
The “glacial goddess” segment inspired the area next door. The room was entirely white, surrounded by white draping dotted with 25-foot-high glacieresque decor pieces and softened with blue uplighting. It’s a tradition for VS models to join the DJ for some impromptu spinning, so the white-carpeted V.I.P. lounge was located right behind the booth of DJ Stonerokk, who also did the music for the Halloween party of VS alum Heidi Klum. A white, 36- by 24-foot dance floor kept the party hopping (and was also thriftier than carpeting the entire room). Guests perched at lighted cocktail tables with plates of rock-shrimp tostadas, beef satay, and lemon tarts. They left with velveteen doctor bags including sweat pants from the VS Pink line, lingerie, and bronzer.
—Irene Lacher
Posted 11.28.06
Photos: Gabriel Bouys/Getty Images (show), Frazer Harrison/Getty Images (party)
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Secret that has continued to get bigger since it was first televised five years ago. This year the show burst out of its relatively tight New York quarters to make its Hollywood debut, an event celebrated with several modelcentric pre-events. Gisele Bundchen and her ilk waved goodbye on the tarmac in New York before boarding the Victoria’s Secret plane to Burbank, where they waved hello on the tarmac there; models received the key to the city from Hollywood’s honorary mayor at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and then went on a staged shopping spree at the Victoria’s Secret next door.
The main event was the half-hour fashion show, with giant LED screens and performances by Justin Timberlake and a gospel choir. The show, produced by Done and Dusted and set for broadcast on CBS on December 5, took place at the Kodak Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards show. With fashion show direction and coordination by OBO, the collection was divided into flirty themes like “coquettish fetish.” Under the guidance of Sara Tervo, Victoria’s Secret’s director of public relations, the post-party for 1,400 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel picked up a few of the fashion-show themes and translated them into lush environments for dining, dancing, and cocktails.
Guests arrived at the hotel foyer to find a room inspired by the “femme fatale” sequence. Working from storyboards from the fashion show, event producer Russell Harris Event Group and Tom Ford Designs turned the lobby into a golden lounge designed to evoke 40’s glamour. The focal point was a tiered chandelier in the center of the room, adorned with strands of yellow beads that took eight people four hours to attach by hand. Surrounding it at the base was a circular banquette covered with gold leather. Above the bar were three 60-inch plasma screens, which played an instantly edited loop of the fashion show. Planners kept the food light in the foyer—there was a bar for shrimp and oysters—to encourage the flow of guests into the next room and the outdoor pool area, where touches of plaid evoked the “highland romance” section of the show.
The “glacial goddess” segment inspired the area next door. The room was entirely white, surrounded by white draping dotted with 25-foot-high glacieresque decor pieces and softened with blue uplighting. It’s a tradition for VS models to join the DJ for some impromptu spinning, so the white-carpeted V.I.P. lounge was located right behind the booth of DJ Stonerokk, who also did the music for the Halloween party of VS alum Heidi Klum. A white, 36- by 24-foot dance floor kept the party hopping (and was also thriftier than carpeting the entire room). Guests perched at lighted cocktail tables with plates of rock-shrimp tostadas, beef satay, and lemon tarts. They left with velveteen doctor bags including sweat pants from the VS Pink line, lingerie, and bronzer.
—Irene Lacher
Posted 11.28.06
Photos: Gabriel Bouys/Getty Images (show), Frazer Harrison/Getty Images (party)
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Heidi’s Halloween Party: Dress Up or Else
Victoria’s Secret Launch Is Very Sexy L.A. Day
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Victoria’s Secret to Fly Show to West Coast
Victoria’s Secret Show Is Sexy Spectacle
The over-the-top spectacle known as Victoria’s Secret’s holiday fashion show moved from New York to Los Angeles this year.
The fashion show featured a gospel choir.
Justin Timberlake performed during the fashion show.
For the after-party, event producer Russell Harris Event Group and Tom Ford Designs turned the Hollywood Roosevelt lobby into a golden lounge with a tiered chandelier in the center of the room, adorned with strands of yellow beads.
The after-party space also featured an area with white decor inspired by a sequence in the show.
