"Sign of the Times" singer Harry Styles, a former member of One Direction, will get to grace the runway during the much-awaited 2017 Victoria's Secret (VS) Fashion Show in Shanghai, China.
Victoria's Secret chief creative officer Ed Razek said that Styles agreed to perform at the VS Fashion Show months ago. "Also appearing are Grammy award-winning artist Miguel, Tony Award-winning star of 'Hamilton' Leslie Odom Jr., and Chinese sensation Jane Zhang," he added.
This news comes after "Swish Swish" singer Katy Perry had failed to secure a visa. Perry was supposed to serve as the main performer for the show, with an insider saying to E! News that "[s]he was looking forward to being the main star of the show, being able to promote her new album, and is bummed that her visa did not get accepted."
A report revealed that the Chinese government's decision to grant Perry a visa was affected by a 2015 incident that had the "Chain To The Ryhthm" singer wearing a dress clad with sunflowers. Also, she had previously waved the Taiwan flag in one performance; the small country is currently fighting for independence from giant country China.
Meanwhile, most of the VS models have set foot in the Asian country. However, some VS angels are only able to send their support for their colleagues who will walk the runway. Gigi Hadid announced on Instagram that she would not be joining others, but she did not give the reason for her missing out. That said, many speculated that this was because of Hadid's alleged mockery of Asians, which involved a video of her squinting her eyes, seemingly to mimic a Buddha cookie.
Her action had garnered the ire of Chinese, with some saying that she was racist and others claiming that she was not welcome in their country. Other angels who reportedly would not be walking the Shanghai runway are Julia Belyakova, Kate Grigorieva, Irina Sharipova, and Dasha Khlystun.
