Tips from Tyra Banks: ModelLand CEO offers selfie advice
Former talk show host Tyra Banks is launching a model-themed destination in California. She stopped by USA TODAY to talk about ModelLand and offer tips on how to take the best photos for social media.
Josmar Taveras, USA TODAY
Tyra Banks is again on top in her return to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show runway.
The supermodel made her comeback at the star-studded fashion show Tuesday night after a nearly 20-year-retirement. Stunning in a black bustier corset with a matching cape that gave the appearance of shattered glass, dazzling leggings and strappy black heels, the former talk show host closed out the show, which also featured Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima, and performances from Cher and Tyla.
Banks, 50, hasn’t been on the runway since 2005.
In September, Banks told Harper’s Bazaar that her return to the catwalk felt like an “out-of-body experience.”
“When I decided to retire, Victoria’s Secret had come to me and had another contract on the table,” the businesswoman said. “And I decided that ‘No, I need to be a talk show host, and I need to be trusted for my words. I don’t think I can be taken seriously if I am still a model,’ and maybe that was true at that time.”
But now, she said, “the world has evolved in such a way that I can be a businesswoman and have my ice cream company and speak at business institutions and get my certificate from my Harvard course and teach at Stanford and, yes, be a Victoria’s Secret model.”
She reflected on the increased diversity on the Victoria’s Secret runway: “I feel like I cracked it open, and now that they’re burst open, I’m so excited,” she told the outlet.
She also didn’t rule out more runway appearances in the future, telling the outlet that after the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show she will “assess all of this other stuff and figure out what I want to do and what I don’t want to do.”
It was also a comeback for Victoria’s Secret, which brought back its fashion show for the first time since 2018.
The retailer announced the return in an Instagram video in May, saying, “We’ve read the comments and heard you” in response to its six-year hiatus.
A Victoria’s Secret spokesperson confirmed the news in a statement to USA TODAY, saying the 2024 fashion show “will deliver precisely what our customers have been asking for — the glamour, runway, fashion, fun, wings, entertainment — all through a powerful, modern lens reflecting who we are today.”
L Brands, the former parent company of Victoria’s Secret, canceled the show in 2019, citing its decision to end the fashion show at the time to “evolve the marketing of Victoria’s Secret” amid declining ratings and criticism about body positivity.
Gigi Hadid, Adriana Lima, Cher shine at Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
The fashion show also saw high-profile models like Bella and Gigi Hadid, Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Joan Smalls rock the catwalk.
Gigi Hadid was angelic in pink as she opened the show, sporting short, slicked-back hair and letting her silky, plunging one-piece and angel wings take center stage.
The retailer previously announced it would have its “first-ever, all-women lineup” of performances, which included Cher, Tyla and Blackpink’s Lisa.
Contributing: Jay Stahl
