Meet Jasmine Tookes and Lais Ribeiro, the two new black Victoria's Secret Angels
As Vogue reports, Victoria’s Secret just announced 10 additions to their 2015 Victoria’s Secret Angels roster, and two of the stunners are models of color, Jasmine Tookes and Lais Ribeiro.
As Victoria’s Secret reveals:
“The expanded Angel lineup gives Victoria’s Secret the largest group of contract models in its history and the most powerful collection of established and emerging models in the world.”
While Victoria’s Secret has a tendency to be a bit heavy-handed with the marketing of “sex appeal” — something to which plus-size clothier, Lane Bryant recently took to task with their #Imnoangel lingerie campaign — it’s thrilling to see more women of color being considered for these highly covetable and profitable roles.
Let’s meet these two angels on earth:
Jasmine Tookes
Instagram: @jastookes
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA
Age: 24
*Humble* beginnings: Tookes’ first foray into modeling? In front of Bruce Weber’s lens for an issue of the (sometimes) cringe-worthy but career-making Abercrombie & Fitch catalog. The spot catapulted her onto the runways of Tom Ford, Dolce & Gabbana, and Marc Jacobs.
The Oprah incident: Talk about being anointed! In 2011, Oprah saw Tookes walking in the “Lincoln Center: A Night with Ralph Lauren” show. Oprah was so taken with Tookes’s skin, she made the model nuzzle her face.
Birds of a feather: Her insanely attractive boyfriend, Tobias Sorenson, is a model too. TookensenLove is a entire Tumblr dedicated to their relationship.
Girl gang members: The usual suspects! Jourdan Dunn, Gigi Hadid, and fellow VS model Shanina Shaik.
Lais Ribeiro
Instagram: @laisribeiro16
Hometown: Teresina, Piauí, Brazil
Age: 24
Black History: The face of Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior, and Tom Ford, made history in 2011 by being featured in an all-black Vogue Italia spread with the likes of Chanel Iman and Jourdan Dunn.
Hell’s Angel turned VS Angel: The Brazilian stunner rides her motorcycle, named “Kate,” back home in Piauí.
Girl gang: Melodie Monrose, a model from Martinique, and fellow VS newcomers Jac Monika Jagaciak, and Sara Sampaio.
Following in the angelic footsteps of Tyra Banks, Chanel Iman, and Selita Ebanks — achingly gorgeous black supermodels who became household names after strutting their stuff for the lingerie behemoth — Tookes and Ribeiro’s appointments continue to diversify the idea of “what’s sexy” and are examples of Victoria’s Secret’s continued strides in more progressive casting decisions.
Marjon Carlos is a style and culture writer for Fusion who boasts a strong turtleneck game and opinions on the subjects of fashion, gender, race, pop culture, and men’s footwear.