See How A Pair Of Victoria's Secret Wings Are Made

Photo: The Huffington Post

In a nondescript studio in New York a team of designers led by a woman named ‘Killer’ make magic. This is the team who painstakingly create the wings for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows, the wings who are worn by models including Karlie Kloss, Candice Swanepoel and Australian Shanina Shaik in the parade.

The Huffington Post went behind the scenes at a fitting with South African model Swanepoel and discovered exactly how those world-famous wings (in Swanepoel’s case, a gold feather and bead-encrusted pair) are made. Killer (whose real name is Marian Hose) and her team recreate the designs from sketches made by an artist. Making the frame for the wings alone can take up to a week. Embellishment – like beading – can take even longer, and sometimes there is a whole team devoted to doing just that. Killer designs each set of wings for an individual model, tailoring the fit and dimensions of the wings to each girl.

Photo: The Huffington Post

Some designs can have up to 2.5 kg of Swarovski crystals hand-beaded into the wings. But that’s nothing compared to the weight of the wings themselves. The heaviest set of wings Killer has ever made? Approximately 10kg, a set of white, completely feathered wings made for Lindsey Ellington.

Photo: Huffington Post

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