Doutzen Kroes on returning to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show after 10 years and ‘seeing beauty’ in aging

Doutzen Kroes, pictured backstage at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2024, is returning to the brand’s runway. Getty Images

Exactly one decade after what she assumed would be her final appearance on the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show runway, longtime Angel Doutzen Kroes is back.

“It’s incredible. I cannot believe it’s been 10 years — I had to look it up! Where did the time go?” the Dutch stunner told Page Six Style before Tuesday’s show.

Kroes made her VS catwalk debut in 2005, when she was 20 years old, and served as one of the brand’s iconic Angels from 2008 through 2014.

Kroes last graced the VS catwalk in 2014. Getty Images for Victoria's Secr She made her Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show debut in 2005, when she was 20 years old. Getty Images Kroes, pictured in 2012, served as one of the brand’s iconic Angels from 2008 through 2014. Richie Buxo / Splash News

“I’m 39 now, and getting wrinkles here and there,” she said, adding that she’s all about “accepting aging” in an industry laser-focused on appearances.

“I gave up the fight! I want to see beauty in everything,” she told us.

“Self-development, self-care and self-love … it sounds very cliché, but I really believe that that’s what shows beauty. Being content with who you are.”

She told us she’s “a different person” since we last saw her on the brand’s runway. Andy Kropa/Invision/AP Posing alongside fellow Angels Adriana Lima and Candice Swanepoel in 2013. FilmMagic “I’ve learned that work is not who I am. I am not my job,” said Kroes, pictured on the VS catwalk in 2014. WireImage

Just as Victoria’s Secret has pledged to modernize its famous fashion spectacular in keeping with the times, Kroes told us she’s “a different person” since we last saw her on the brand’s runway, thanks to “so many years of self-reflection.”

“I’ve learned that work is not who I am. I am not my job,” she said. “Everything that I get to do for my job is a bonus — and I really, really enjoy it.”

Kroes isn’t the only veteran Angel returning to VS this year; Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Tyra Banks, Behati Prinsloo, Candice Swanepoel, Taylor Hill, Jasmine Tookes and Barbara Palvin will be among the others joining her on the runway.

The 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show airs live on Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. ET across Victoria’s Secret’s Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, and on both Amazon Live and Prime Video.