Gigi Hadid Defends Elsa Hosk's Victoria's Secret Walk Amidst Criticism

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Wing woman, reporting for duty.

Gigi Hadid jumped to Elsa Hosk’s defense Wednesday after a Threads user took aim at the Swedish model’s walk at Sunday’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

The clip shows Hosk, 37, making her way down the mirrored runway in a sheer bodysuit and massive shimmering wings that span nearly the entire width of the catwalk, looking somewhat cautious in her gold stiletto heels.

“Imagine Giselle [sic] walking down the runway like this? 😬” the user captioned it, referencing former Angel Gisele Bündchen.

Hadid, 31, swooped into the replies. “This really PMO,” she wrote. “Elsa slayed this. I’m the biggest fan of the OG Angels; but even the scale & size of this runway is not comparable to the OG shows.”

The supermodel, who also walked this year’s show, went on to explain why today’s wings make the walk such an athletic feat.

“It’s a looong walk in the wings these days ++ they can be 75+lbs, 10+ ft tall, sometimes animatronic, etc.,” she wrote, adding that they’re “NOT aero dynamic [sic]” even before “the gust of runway fans!!”

“It takes 3 men to take these wings off of us,” Hadid continued. “Elsa is stunning, strong, & carried these like a boss. Y’all have no clue.”

Others in the comments were quick to back her up. “weight AND wind resistance. she’s literally dragging two parachutes behind her. let’s see you try it?” one wrote.

Another pointed to Hosk’s pro basketball past and years on the Victoria’s Secret runway, reasoning that if she struggled, Bündchen likely would have too.

Hosk had already addressed the chatter herself. “Also for the people on the internet talking about my walk, it took THREE men to carry these wings and put them on my back,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories after the show. “Let that sink in🫶.”

The brand itself described the set on Instagram as “some of the grandest we’ve ever seen.” Underneath the sheer, shimmering fabric is a welded metal skeleton, chief creative officer Adam Selman explained in a wardrobe walk-through with Elle.

Sunday’s show was Hosk’s first since 2018, and came less than three months after she welcomed her second daughter, Flora Blue, with fiancé Tom Daly on July 22.

Her last outing came with its own heavy lifting: she wore the $1 million Dream Angels Fantasy Bra, the last one to hit the runway until Kylie Jenner debuted a $50 million Jacob & Co. version on Sunday.

“It feels like you’re wearing one million dollars. It’s a bit heavy. I’m glad I have bodyguards around,” Hosk told Elle at the time.

Gigi’s sister, Bella Hadid, faced similar scrutiny last year when her slow closing walk in silver fringed lingerie and oversized white wings sparked fan concern. “Ok we’re not going to pretend these wings weren’t 50 pounds but HOW BEAUTIFUL,” she later wrote on Instagram Stories.

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