Kylie Jenner just wore a $50 million bra, and Victoria's Secret hasn't been this talked about in years
The 2026 VS Fashion Show brought back the Fantasy Bra after eight years, put it on the first non-Angel in the event's history, and gave the internet a lot to process, all in one Sunday night at Sony Pictures Studios.
In brief
Kylie Jenner just wore a $50 million bra, and Victoria's Secret hasn't been this talked about in years
Sunday night at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, Kylie Jenner walked out in white feathered angel wings, clear heels, and a bra worth more than most people's neighborhoods. The crowd went sideways. The internet went sideways harder.
Jenner made her Victoria's Secret Fashion Show debut on October 18, becoming the first non-Angel to model the brand's famed Fantasy Bra, and she did it after the piece had sat off the runway for eight years. The 2026 Fantasy Bra is estimated to be worth $50 million, according to Vogue. That number alone was enough to keep Twitter occupied for the better part of the night.
The design features 4,410 natural diamonds, including a 75.54-carat yellow center diamond reportedly valued at $22 million on its own. It took 15 craftspeople more than 1,000 hours to complete and weighs just under four pounds. The piece was designed by Adam Selman, Victoria's Secret's chief creative officer, in partnership with luxury jewelry house Jacob & Co.
The 29-year-old beauty mogul surprised viewers on Sunday night when she walked the runway in the revived Fantasy Bra. Boyfriend Timothée Chalamet and her mother, Kris Jenner, were both spotted in the audience. The Kylie Cosmetics founder called it the "best day ever" on Instagram, while her sister Kim Kardashian declared, "Just perfect."
Why Kylie, why now
Victoria's Secret didn't land on Jenner by accident. Chief creative officer Adam Selman told Vogue: "Kylie really extends beyond fashion, beyond culture, beyond TV, beyond one singular thing. That's the exact same thing that we do. The show is so big, it's true entertainment, and I think that she is a great catalyst for that."
Selman continued: "She's really created her own culture, how many people can say that? I think it's an interesting pairing that we're giving the fans: we're giving them what they want with this amazing Fantasy Bra, and we're going to put it on an unexpected talent who has a massive following and massive cultural impact."
That framing, Jenner as a culture engine, not a model per se, is precisely the bet VS is making right now. The first Fantasy Bra was worn by Claudia Schiffer in 1996, with subsequent wearers including Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen, Adriana Lima, Miranda Kerr, and Lais Ribeiro. Putting it on a Kardashian-Jenner in 2026 is a statement about whose attention the brand is chasing.
The rest of the show
The Kylie moment dominated, but it wasn't the only story walking that runway. Megan Thee Stallion commanded the stage as a performer, and Solange Oman, Victoria's Secret's newest Angel, made her debut. Gigi Hadid, Adriana Lima, Ashley Graham, and Barbara Palvin were among the models on the runway, while Megan Thee Stallion, Tate McRae, Megan Moroney, and KATSEYE served as the night's musical performers.
Soccer star Trinity Rodman also made her runway debut, sharing a moment with Natalia Bryant as she stepped out in a matching black two-piece set. Tate McRae performed at the show, photographed by WWD at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City.
Then there was Barbara Palvin. Hungarian supermodel Barbara Palvin returned to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show just six weeks after welcoming her first child, saying the experience left her feeling empowered as a new mother. The model walked in a sheer pale-pink look with matching lingerie and gold hoop earrings, her appearance coming 41 days after she welcomed daughter Sylvie with husband Dylan Sprouse.
Speaking to Page Six ahead of the show, Palvin joked about the quick turnaround: "I tell everyone: This is normal. Maternity leave is six to eight weeks; I'm six weeks tomorrow, so I'm just doing what everyone else is doing. And I only need to walk down a runway."
Sprouse, watching from the audience, had already posted his reaction before the show: "Proud of my missus, jumping right into the VS fashion show post birth. Built different. I don't know where you find the energy but damn!" he wrote on Instagram on October 16. Speaking to E! News at the show, Sprouse said he was "extremely proud" of Palvin and described her as being in "super mom mode", then joked he was "a tired guy all the time" since becoming a father.
The conversation it started
Palvin's return wasn't universally celebrated. While celebrity friends and fans rushed to praise her comeback on social media, the rapid return also sparked widespread discussion online, with some raising questions about the societal pressure placed on new mothers to return to pre-baby physiques so quickly. The comeback had been closely watched after Victoria's Secret announced Palvin would return.
That debate is its own story, and a real one. What VS got on Sunday night, whatever you make of the individual choices, was a show people actually watched and talked about. The Fantasy Bra returned during the 2026 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on Sunday night, with Kylie Jenner making a surprise runway debut in the creation. The show was held at Sony Pictures Studios, not a New York soundstage or a Paris venue, and the whole evening felt very much like a Los Angeles production: glitzy, planned to the last feather, and engineered for maximum social spread.
Jenner's Instagram "best day ever" had millions of likes by Monday morning. The yellow diamond at the bra's center, alone, costs more than most real estate in the zip code the show was filmed in.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
