Victoria's Secret holds first London show

US lingerie chain Victoria's Secret will hold its annual show in London for the first time on Tuesday, mixing fun and business for a keenly awaited fashion circuit event.

Country-pop singer Taylor Swift will sing at the event as some of the world's best-paid models including Brazil's Adriana Lima take to the catwalk. She will be joined by fellow Brazilian Alessandra Ambrosio and both will be wearing diamond-encrusted bras sold for 2 million dollars (1.6 million euros) each.

Candice Swanepoel, Behati Prinsloo, Doutzen Kroes and Karlie Kloss will also be among the 47 models -- known as "Angels -- taking part in an event that has helped launch the careers of several top models."It's one of the biggest shows that you can walk in as a model," Sweden's Elsa Hosk told AFP.

"It's such an honour for a model to walk in this show, just because it's huge publicity for us." This year's show at the Earl's Court exhibition centre will be shown on December 9 by CBS television in around 200 countries. They are expecting around 500 million viewers. This is only the second time since 1995 that a Victoria's Secret show is held outside of the United States after an edition in Cannes in 2000.

Created in 1977 and with more than 1,000 stores in the United States, Victoria's Secret made 6.68 billion dollars from sales last year. The top US lingerie seller has been on the British market since 2005 and in 2012 it opened a flagship store on London's New Bond Street.

The flashy brand is not to everyone's taste, however. Three British students led a successful campaign that forced the company earlier this month to change its adverts featuring models wearing its new "Body" bras with the slogan: "The Perfect 'Body'". The ad now reads: "A Body for Every Body". (AFP)