For a model, being tapped as a Victoria’s Secret angel is just about the highest honour there is. Or, at least, it used to be. And regardless of your views on the company, there’s no doubt that a Victoria’s Secret angel has serious influence — and who can go past a great pair of wings? Now, the brand has announced the latest new addition to the angel group, introducing British model Alexina Graham to the exclusive cache which includes the likes of Behati Prinsloo, Candice Swanepoel and Josephine Skriver.
29-year-old Graham, who grew up in the Midlands in the UK and is the first Victoria’s Secret angel with natural red hair, said she celebrated the news with a bottle of champagne.
“I found out when I was having dinner with one of my best friends, just in a restaurant in Soho, New York,” she told Glamour UK. “My agent sent me a screenshot of an email saying, ‘you are joining the VS family in 2019!’ So, I called her thinking she was joking, and she said, ‘no it’s true!’ So, me and my friend just got champagne – it was such a great way to find out! We kept it chic though, darling!”
Graham says she wants to use her newfound platform to give red head kids a voice — and to prove to them that anything is possible.
“I think for me being a red head VS Angel means I get to put red heads out there more. Being an angel is part of having that media outreach so that I can say to young red head kids, ‘you can do anything you want! Nothing is impossible!’” she said.
“When I first did the Victoria’s Secret show in Shanghai and I was the first red haired girl to walk in the show since Karen Elson in 2009, I had so many messages from children and one woman said, ‘my child got bullied at school today and I showed her your Instagram to prove that the bullying doesn’t mean anything and you can achieve whatever you put your mind to!’ That meant so much to me.”
Graham is the second model to be tapped as an angel in the past week, with Hungarian model Barbara Palvin also announced to have come on board. Before Palvin, the last model to be inducted as an angel was Josephine Skriver, who was bought on board in 2016.
As for what we can expect for the 2019 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show? There are already rumours that newbie Palvin will open the show, but with Graham’s appointment, anything goes.
This story originally appeared on InStyle Australia
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