Cover Barbara Palvin walks the runway at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2026 in Los Angeles (Photo: @realbarbarapalvin/Instagram)
Barbara Palvin walks the runway at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2026 in Los Angeles (Photo: @realbarbarapalvin/Instagram)
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From a long wait to earn her wings to a love story that began with an ignored DM, here is how Barbara Palvin came to walk the 2026 Victoria’s Secret runway nearly six weeks after giving birth
On October 18, Barbara Palvin returned to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in Los Angeles, nearly six weeks after welcoming her first child. The model’s appearance marked another milestone in a career shaped by unexpected detours. Her Victoria’s Secret journey has included two six-year gaps, a long wait for her wings and an off-runway love story with actor Dylan Sprouse that began with an unanswered Instagram message. For those who know her mainly from the runway, here’s what to know about the Hungarian model and the path that brought her back.
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She walked the 2026 Victoria’s Secret runway nearly six weeks postpartum
Barbara Palvin hit the Victoria’s Secret runway at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, opening in a sheer pale-pink mini dress over matching lingerie before returning in an embellished white corset, sheer train and wings. Backstage, she noted that returning to work six weeks after giving birth was fairly common in the US. She also admitted she is still healing, crediting the support around her. Meanwhile, husband Dylan Sprouse praised her on Instagram, writing “Built different”.
Barbara Palvin Victoria’s Secret story began in 2012—then paused for six years
Barbara Palvin first walked the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2012, but did not return until 2018, a gap of six years. During that time, she struggled to get past the casting stage, and has said things fell into place only once she accepted her body and felt comfortable in her own skin. She has also spoken openly about being fat-shamed early in her career. Her 2018 return came as the brand faced growing criticism over its narrow idea of beauty.
She became Victoria’s Secret’s first Hungarian Angel in 2019
Victoria’s Secret named Barbara Palvin an Angel in March 2019, alongside English model Alexina Graham. A Facebook group then labelled her the brand’s first “plus-size” Angel, a description widely criticised as absurd. The show she was due to walk in her new role was cancelled that year, a disappointment she said she accepted while trusting the process. It would be another six years before the runway returned, when she walked again in 2024.
She kept walking through health challenges in 2024 and 2025
Barbara Palvin walked the relaunched show in 2024 in wings she described as weighing around 40 pounds. In August 2025, she revealed on Instagram that she had undergone surgery for endometriosis, urging others with similar symptoms to see a specialist. Two months after her post, she walked the 2025 show in heels with a broken foot, wearing wings of just one pound.
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She met Dylan Sprouse at a party, then ignored his DM for six months
Barbara Palvin and actor Dylan Sprouse first met around 2017 at an event, where, by their own account, she cut him in line. He messaged her on Instagram afterwards, and she did not reply for six months. When she finally did, Sprouse was about to leave for a six-month shoot in China, and the pair began dating in 2018. Both are keen anime fans, a shared interest Palvin has said works in their favour.
They married in Hungary in 2023 and welcomed baby Sylvie in 2026
Barbara Palvin and Sprouse wed on July 15, 2023 at Harlekin Birtok, her parents’ property in Hungary, after a September 2022 engagement they confirmed only in June 2023. She wore Vivienne Westwood for the ceremony and, following Hungarian tradition, changed into red after midnight. They announced in May 2026 at Cannes that they were expecting, and welcomed daughter Sylvie in September 2026.
Dylan Sprouse cheered her on from the front row of the Victoria’s Secret show
Husband Dylan Sprouse watched from the front row and was on his feet more than once, rising from his seat to cheer and blowing his wife a kiss as she walked. Two days earlier, he had posted a photo of Palvin walking their dog with Sylvie in a carrier, adding that he did not know where she found the energy. Speaking to reporters, he admitted that caring for a newborn had left him exhausted, and said he is amazed by how composed her wife stays on the runway.
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After more than a decade in lifestyle media, Clifford has mastered the art of writing seriously about things that are fun—and writing fun things about people who take themselves very seriously. At Tatler Asia, he helped steer its flagship lists, Tatler’s Most Influential and Asia’s Most Stylish. And today, he leads T-Labs, Tatler Asia’s content innovation hub, where he continues the noble pursuit of lifestyle storytelling, spinning stories on wealth, entertainment, necessary style, Hallyu, Hollywood, beauty and more for audiences across Asia.
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