Like millions of others, I found myself completely swept up and overjoyed watching the 2025 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show this week.
This year’s runway reiterated the brand’s sharp redirection away from its controversial past, celebrating the beauty of diverse bodies.
Age, race, gender, athleticism and body shape blurred to create a spectacle that felt focused on feeling sexy in your own skin. That was, until I had time to reflect on Lila Moss’ runway moment.
Since stepping onto the Fendi x Versace runway at Milan Fashion Week in October of 2021, insulin pump on full display, the 23-year-old model has become an advocate for those living with Type One Diabetes (T1D).
Moss is often seen posting photos with both her continuous glucose monitor and insulin pump visible – not to flaunt her condition, but to normalise it. Because here’s the thing about T1D: it’s often dubbed an ‘invisible illness’.
Despite there being more than 420 million diabetics worldwide, many still confuse Type One with Type Two, assuming it’s caused by ‘eating too much sugar’ or being unhealthy as a child rather than a genetic predisposition completely out of our control. This common misunderstanding is inherently linked to the fact it’s the kind of illness that’s easy to conceal – something many of us do.
Why? Because nobody wants to make a fuss or feel different, particularly when they’re young — which is when many Type One diabetics are first diagnosed. It’s also why seeing someone like Lila Moss normalise the condition and raise awareness feels so significant.
Speaking to Vogue recently, Moss echoed this very sentiment.
“When I first started going out and doing these things, I got so many messages from people saying that seeing me helped them, or their children, feel more proud and represented,” she said.
Here lies the downfall of her Victoria’s Secret runway moment. While I’d never expect every catwalk appearance from the model to centre on her illness – nor should it, because it doesn’t define her – the decision to cover her up, when the brand has made such strides to champion diversity in every other sense, feels disappointing.
For her PINK runway look, Moss wore a grey sweatshirt combo that covered all the areas a diabetic device would be, even adding a second sweatshirt tied around her waist to hide her upper back thigh.
I quickly found myself scrolling through her Instagram, hoping she’d simply chosen not to wear her devices. Instead, post-show photos revealed her in her hotel room with not one but two diabetes monitors in plain sight.
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has, since its rebranding in 2024, become a celebration of all bodies. After all, a very pregnant Jasmine Tookes opened the show yesterday, setting the tone for an hour-long celebration of female bodies in all its forms.
But while VS so clearly wanted us to be left with the message that every body is sexy, I found myself wondering, why not Lila and her diabetes, too?
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