Check out our exclusive backstage Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show photos
Glitz and glamour was on display this year in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at the newly revamped Fontainebleu Resort in sunny Miami-and ESSENCE.com was granted full backstage access as well as a ticket to the show.
The crème de la crème of Miami’s high society and celebrities alike gathered in the hotel’s glitzy ballroom on Saturday for an evening of cocktails and fun. There was newly married Nick Cannon spinning the jams just before his lovely wife Mariah Carey performed some of her new hits (“Touch My Body”) as well as a bevy of her old-school jams (“Dreamlover”). Looking radiant and fighting a cold, the songtress still hit every note and even performed a duet (“I’ll Be There”) with R&B artist Trey Lorenz. While the last-minute touches were being applied to the massive tent that had been resurrected in one of the pool areas specifically for the show, the gorgeous Victoria’s Secret models began to gather backstage. Head makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury compared their look to a “doe-eyed Bambi.” “It’s a little bit dreamy; like a chic silhouette,” she said. “There’s an innocence to it.” Head hairstylist, Oribe Canales, who had plenty of Victoria’s Secret So Sexy haircare products on hand, described his styling as “sexy yet somewhat approachable.”
“I want the hair to be light and just move on its own,” he said, while applying clip-on extensions to one of the models. Meanwhile, most of the resort occupants (such as music artist Cee-Lo) gathered in the cabanas around the pool area. Later that evening, with tickets in hand, hundreds gathered to make their way into the tent to see the show’s music headliner-Usher. (Former Danity Kane member Aubrey O’Day was even overheard asking line members how she could get to the red carpet.) Inside the tent and seated next to domestic diva Martha Stewart (could a collabo be in the works?) was O’Day’s former boss, Diddy, sporting a plain white T-shirt and almost as much bling as the $5,000,000 Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra worn by Victoria’s Secret model Adriana during the show! Also spotted at the show were Russell Simmons and BFF’s Gabrielle Union and Sanaa Lathan.