Not even a sudden shoe snafu could stop Doutzen Kroes‘ on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
The Dutch supermodel had a brief mishap during her return to the runway at the 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York City.
PEOPLE caught the moment in person, though viewers watching from home might have missed it as cameras cut around the situation. It occurred towards the top of the show, when Kroes stomped the catwalk to Chappell Roan’s “Femininomenon.”
Not far down the massive platform, the 39-year-old stopped short, her heel caught in a crack in the white runway. Ever a professional, the veteran Victoria’s Secret angel gracefully handled things with ease, bending down to release her heel.
Fellow model Imaan Hammam, walking by, offered to help but before she had a chance to, Kroes was back on her feet and strutting her stuff. She even raised her arms in triumph, celebrating her quick recovery as the audience gave her an uproar of applause.
Kroes first made her debut with Victoria’s Secret in 2005 when she was just 20. At the time, she wore a polka-dot look with a bell tied to the waist and a sweet-as-candy ensemble.
But the model hasn’t been on the catwalk in a decade, and told Page Six ahead of the show that she “cannot believe it’s been 10 years” — noting, “I had to look it up! Where did the time go?”
“I’m 39 now, and getting wrinkles here and there,” she remarked to the outlet, saying she’s begun “accepting aging.”
“I gave up the fight! I want to see beauty in everything,” she confessed. “It sounds very cliché, but I really believe that that’s what shows beauty. Being content with who you are.”
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While Kroes took a decade off, the brand’s famed fashion show has returned after six-year hiatus. Kroes wasn’t the only veteran VS angel to wear her wings again; she was joined by supermodels Tyra Banks, Gigi Hadid, Adriana Lima and many more.
But Kroes revealed to Page Six that since taking a step back from the show, she’s had “so many years of self-reflection” and feels like “a different person.”
“I’ve learned that work is not who I am. I am not my job,” the model said. “Everything that I get to do for my job is a bonus — and I really, really enjoy it “a different person”
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show streamed on Tuesday, Oct 15 at 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video as well as Victoria’s Secret YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram pages.
