The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show returned last year, and along with a slew of high-wattage performers that included Tyla, Lisa, and Cher, the brand also introduced New York-based designer Joseph Altuzarra as its first-ever Atelier Designer in Residence. Altuzarra will create a series of ready-to-wear collections throughout 2025 in order to develop a complete wardrobe for the Victoria’s Secret customer.
“When we think about what an amazing VS editorial campaign moment is, it’s this level of sophistication and glamour that’s attached to inspirations from the red carpet and the runway, and those are both things that Joseph excels at building,” explained Victoria’s Secret’s Priscilla Polley late last year. “Partnering with someone who has an expertise in ready-to-wear allows us to create an entire world that our customer can actually see and think, Wow! This is Victoria’s Secret come to life! We’ve never done that before.”
Although it’s certainly an unexpected pairing—Altuzarra is not necessarily the first brand one thinks about in relation to lingerie and “sexy dressing,” the designer revealed that he’s long considered what a collaboration with the brand would be like. “I was thinking about brands that I thought were really interesting within the fashion landscape today, and brands that I felt had a lot of symbiosis with Altuzarra,” he said in a Zoom from his Manhattan office. “I happened to know the team at Victoria’s Secret and I remember texting someone like, ‘Hey, I’m having this very random thought, what do you think?’, and the response was like, ‘Oh, that’s so funny, this is something that we’re talking about as well.”
The first part of the collection will be available for sale today, and features many nods to the Victoria’s Secret catalogs of the early ’90s. Think: slinky silk slip dresses and separates embellished with a bit of very sexy sheer lace; or a classic white button-down shirt, which Altuzarra has reworked into a bodysuit to ensure a smooth tuck inside his elegant pleated trousers. “The first delivery we really approached as a kind of foundational wardrobe,” Altuzarra shared. “In my own collection I always start working with outerwear and coats, and seeing how this delivers in spring, we loved the idea of working on a trench.” His version is made from ivory satin and features silver bra straps inside so that the wearer can sensually drape the coat off her shoulders. “Everything in the collection has these little touches that really tie back to the language of lingerie and underwear,” he added. Bodycon lightweight knit separates have playful, fully functional hook-and-eye closures down the front, and a more masculine suit jacket features hook-and-eye details on the sleeve cuffs rather than the usual buttons.
The Victoria’s Secret fantasy, after all, is where it all starts for so many. “There is a real emotional connection to the brand,” Altuzarra explained. “It’s where a lot of my friends bought their first bras, the place girls got their first perfume, and for a lot of gay boys like me, it was the first fashion show we saw, the first sort of really camp fashion moment that we experienced. So it’s been a dream to be able to work with them.”
This article has been updated.
