Victoria’s Secret returns to Los Angeles: the Return hexagram in fashion’s cycles

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Victoria’s Secret is moving its show from New York to Los Angeles. Why do retro styles keep returning? Fashion has its cycles, which this article reads through Fu, the Return hexagram of the Changes: when Stripping Away reaches its limit, return follows. Yet every return is more than a simple repetition.

First, the announcement. On September 29, Victoria’s Secret announced the performers for its 2026 show: global girl group KATSEYE, rapper Megan Thee Stallion, country singer Megan Moroney, and pop singer Tate McRae—an all-women lineup. The show will take place in Los Angeles on October 18 and stream globally on YouTube. Reported confirmed models include Gigi Hadid, Ashley Graham, and Alex Consani.

The Return judgment speaks of success, coming and going without illness, and friends arriving without blame. It describes yang beginning again at the lowest line after Stripping Away reaches its extreme. Fashion is well acquainted with recurring styles: low-rise trousers, Y2K, and retro sportswear are often discussed in roughly twenty-year cycles. In this reading, Victoria’s Secret is stepping into a similar cycle: after a period of minimalism and less overtly sexual aesthetics, the market is again receptive to glamorous, theatrical showmanship. But the key phrase in Return is “return in seven days”: what comes back is yang energy, not yesterday’s sun. The 2026 show differs from past editions through its all-women performer lineup, global YouTube stream, and a Gen Z group such as KATSEYE. The show’s form returns; the variables belong to a new era.

Two kinds of retro revival deserve distinction. One brings an old thing back unchanged and risks failing because the times have changed. The other, a Return-style revival, takes what endures within an old form and tells it again in today’s language. I read Victoria’s Secret as pursuing the latter: reclaiming the ritual of the large-scale show rather than simply returning to earlier beauty standards. Ritual is one of humanity’s oldest needs; however winding the path, it tends to return.

For everyday life, Return offers another reflection: reaching an extreme need not bring panic; a return may lie ahead. That applies to aesthetics, industries, and personal states. In this symbolic reading, Stripping Away must finish clearing the old before new yang can grow. Victoria’s Secret’s quieter years are the stripping-away phase; the Los Angeles evening on October 18 will test the quality of its return.

The lines of Return give more texture to coming back. The first nine says that returning before going far brings no great regret and is highly auspicious. Victoria’s Secret’s recent retreat can be read as turning back before going too far: contracting and adjusting as the market changed, then returning, rather than forcing the old model to a dead end. The second six speaks of a gracious return and good fortune. An all-women performance lineup and a Los Angeles stage suggest that gracious quality in this interpretation. The top six warns of a lost or confused return and misfortune. Merely replaying the old show unchanged would fit that warning; bringing back the ritual in the language of 2026 points in a different direction.

Fashion knows these recurring patterns well: low-rise trousers, Y2K, and retro sportswear are often described as returning about every twenty years. What insiders recognize, in this reading, is that emotions return as much as styles. After a phase of minimalism and less overt sexuality, audiences become receptive again to glamour, theatricality, and ritual. Victoria’s Secret is seeking that turn in feeling. It is a modern analogy for return in seven days: a fresh cycle of yang, not yesterday’s sun. Global YouTube streaming, a Gen Z group such as KATSEYE, and a newer pop figure such as Tate McRae make the 2026 show different from earlier ones. The form returns, while the era’s variables change.

Another everyday reflection lies in Return’s assurance about coming and going without illness and friends arriving without blame. Taking a detour need not be shameful; neither does coming back. Industries and lives alike may reach an extreme without needing panic, since a return can lie ahead. In this reading, the condition is thorough stripping away: clear the old so new yang can grow. Victoria’s Secret’s quieter years constitute that phase, and October 18 in Los Angeles will test the result. Viewers will judge with their eyes. That is the fairness of the metaphor: you can choose to return, but the times determine how well your return works.

Ultimately, fashion, like life, offers no literal return to the past—only a way of carrying the past forward. This Los Angeles return brings back a ritual and leaves an earlier era behind. Whether it finds something new within Return will become clearer on October 18.