Candice Swanepoel to model $10-million bra for Victoria’s Secret

Candice Swanepoel is the newest Victoria’s Secret Angel to don the lingerie brand’s Fantasy Bra, which this year is said to be worth $10 million.

The 23-year-old South African model will strut down the New York runway wearing the jewel-encrusted Royal Fantasy Bra designed by jeweler Mouawad. She’ll also be featured wearing the bra in the Victoria’s Secret Dreams & Fantasies Catalog, according to the Daily Mail.

“4200 gemstones. 1 royal fantasy. Your 1st look at this year’s #VSFantasyBra, worn by @angelcandices. See it on the runway at the #VSFashionShow, Dec. 10 at 10/9c on CBS,” the company posted on Instagram with a picture of Swanepoel modeling the bra.

The garment’s enormous price tag comes from its materials and craftsmanship. The bra is adorned with 4,200 precious gems including rubies, diamonds and yellow sapphires that were hand-set in an 18-carat gold setting. A 52-carat pear-shaped ruby hangs from the middle of the bra, which, get this, comes with a matching belt and two bodyguards. (Because every bra needs a belt and bodyguards!)

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“I’ve never worn anything this pricey, and we have to put gloves on when we put it on,” Swanepoel told People. “It’s kind of a big ordeal. The bra comes with two bodyguards and we have to handle it with a lot of care!”

The model said it was quite a feat just to make the encrusted bustier.

“They had to mold my body to be able to make [the bra], and I was really excited,” she said. “I tried to imagine after they’d done the mold, how would they make it, how it would look. My imagination didn’t do it justice. My favorite part is this beautiful 52-carat pear-shaped ruby. Every part of it is exquisite.”

Swanepoel, who previously appeared in the show six times and was No. 9 this year on Forbes’ list of the world’s top-earning models, walks the runway in the wake of Angels Tyra Banks, Gisele Bündchen, Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima and Claudia Schiffer, the Mail reported.

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Last year, Ambrosio, who had given birth just five months before the show, was selected to wear a $2.5-million Fantasy Bra, which was made by London Jewelers and encrusted with more than 5,000 sapphires, rubies, diamonds and other stones, and features a 20-carat diamond as a centerpiece. It too had a matching belt.

The first-ever Fantasy Bra was made for Schiffer in 1996; however, top-earning supermodel and former Victoria’s Secret Angel Gisele Bündchen holds the honor of modeling the most expensive fantasy bra ever made. The Brazilian model, who left the mega-brand in 2007, wore the Ruby Fantasy Bra in the 2000 show. The hand-made garment rang up at a whopping $15 million.

But Swanepoel knows that $10 million is no small chunk of change.

“Definitely being the Fantasy Bra model is more nerve-wracking [than shooting swimsuits] because it’s a one-time thing,” she told People. “Walking around wearing $10 million does seem to make me a little bit nervous.”

The fashion show will air Dec. 10 on CBS.

[For the record, 4:45 p.m. Oct. 17: A previous version of this post said Swanepoel walked in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show three times and was 10th on Forbes’ list of highest-earning models. In fact, she has been in the show six times and was ninth on the list.]

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