The Victoria’s Secret fashion show made its highly anticipated return to Los Angeles this weekend, with models wearing the iconic Angel wings and stunning lingerie as they walked down the ramp. One of the highlights of the show was supermodels Ming Xi, Elsa Hosk, and Tate McRae dressed in Angel wings made from material that almost floated down the runway.
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The transparent, dreamy fabric
Transparent, almost weightless, with a delicate metallic shine to the fabric, the three models’ wings were made of organza that closely resembles transparent organza and rare Japanese super organza, which was also used in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. While Tate’s were massive, billowing, sheer red wings that trailed behind her like flames, Elsa’s were enormous rose-gold wings that weighed almost 23 kg; Ming Xi‘s statement-making golden and gauzy wings were the largest and most elaborate of the night.
Designer shares his work
Soon after the videos from the show started circulating online, many praised the dreamy fabric used for the Angel wings, especially the one used for Ming’s look. A London-based clothing designer, with a brand called the House of Alvin, even claimed that he found the exact fabric and used them for his wedding collection.
The designer posted videos of the three models with the caption, “Rich because I found THIS EXACT fabric and made a wedding dress with it.” He claimed that he found the original fabric used in the Victoria’s Secret show, which is ‘now extinct’.
“The original fabric is now extinct. The supplier website and everything is down, so I literally have only what I have left for my clients, and yes, it is different from other stores (it is ACTUALLY the lightest; I ordered a bunch of samples to compare),” he wrote in the caption.
Per the video shared by the designer, he used the ethereal super organza fabric to construct wedding gowns, a few of which he also displayed in the reel: a billowy mauve-pink and ivory corseted gown with layers of organza creating a voluminous skirt. He further elevated the look by creating a veil and a train for the dress in the same superlight fabric.
The Frankenstein connection
Costume designer Kate Hawley used transparent organza and rare Japanese super organza to create the haunting, X-ray-style ribcage dresses worn by Mia Goth in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, especially the many-layered organza wedding dress. It had five layers of organza and a Swiss-ribbon bodice, put on the outside instead of the inside, to reflect the creature more than Victor.
In an interview with Vogue, Kate shared that the wedding gown was the first look they created for the film. “The bridal look was really important, and this is Guillermo’s bride, not a Victorian bride. It needed to be period but also have the more modern sensibility that he wanted. It echoes the creature’s bandages and his skeleton framework. We built the dress like we built the creature, from the inside out. The ribbons on her arms are also a lovely homage to [the 1931] Frankenstein and [the 1935] Bride of Frankenstein,” she told Vogue.
Kate further shared that the dress was influenced by Swiss-German regional dress and was made from the lightest silk.
