“I never cried so much in my entire life — and I have a baby,” Ribeiro said of her initial reaction (which you can watch in the exclusive clip above!) when she found out she would be wearing the $2 million Champagne Nights Fantasy bra. “It was so emotional. I couldn’t believe it when they told me. It was so beautiful.”
Victoria’s Secret Model Lais Ribeiro models the 2017 Fantasy Bra
Weighing more than 600 carats, this year’s blinged-out bra is designed exclusively for Victoria’s Secret by jeweler Mouawad and is handset with diamonds, yellow sapphires, and blue topaz in 18 karat gold on a custom Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Demi Bra. The ornate design took almost 350 hours to create and is embellished with nearly 6,000 precious gemstones.
“Who doesn’t dream about wearing the Fantasy Bra — I mean it’s an honor to be among Gisele [Bündchen], Candice [Swanepoel], Adriana [Lima], and all the big top models who have worn it in the past,” Ribeiro gushed. “I get too emotional talking about this. I have to work on that.”
KMAZUR/WIREIMAGE FOR FULL PICTURE; ALEXANDER TAMARGO/GETTY IMAGES; JAMIE MCCARTHY/GETTY IMAGES
During her fitting, the model made sure to FaceTime her family, who was just as emotional as she was.
“I asked my brother to put everybody on the phone: my grandma, grandpa, my mom, uncles, everybody in the room and then I told them and it was just me crying on the side and my entire family on the other side crying,” she said. “They’re jumping; my sister dropped the phone. It was amazing.”
Ribeiro said that the first time she tried the bra on it was a “perfect” fit and no alterations needed to be made.

“It felt so amazing. I think a lot of emotions that I had inside of me over the seven years all came out at once,” she shared. “I was just so happy and so proud and so thankful to wear the bra. I couldn’t believe. I swear to God three days later I was like pinching myself literally like, ‘This is not happening.’ I can’t believe. I kept asking my boyfriend, asking my close friends, ‘Is this for real, seriously?’ I couldn’t believe it.”
While she may be wearing the most expensive piece of lingerie in this year’s show, Ribeiro maintains that her first VS fashion show will always be the most nerve-wracking.
“Literally, I don’t know how my legs kept going” she shared. “It somehow didn’t look like I was nervous, but you know that feeling when you workout and the inside of you shakes, that’s how I felt. My legs were just shaking and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, how am I going to control this.’ And my wings were so big!”
THEO WARGO/GETTY IMAGES
Ribeiro might be one of the top lingerie models in the world, but she said growing up that Victoria’s Secret wasn’t on her radar.
“I’m from a very tiny city in Brazil and I knew Gisele and Adriana and Alessandra, but I wasn’t into the fashion world until I was in it,” she said. “I was supposed to be a nurse, but when I was introduced to modeling it changed. I was like, ‘I want to be a Victoria’s Secret model,’ Who doesn’t wanna be? And now I’m just amazed to be one of them.”
The catwalker adds that her Angel idol and soundboard in the business is Adriana Lima.
“She is my buddy. We are friends and she is open to new girls. She is always helping and such an example and inspiration to all the young girls,” Ribeiro shared. “She was just open to me and we became friends. I was very happy for that.”

This year the show will be in Shanghai, China at the Mercedes Benz Arena, which holds more people than any of the previous Victoria’s Secret Fashion show venues. The runway will also feature the debut of the Victoria’s Secret x Balmain collaboration. But even with all those eyes, Ribeiro keeps her cool.
“My family is very religious so I try to pray and to concentrate and focus and calm myself down — that’s all I do before the show,” she said. “Oh, and did I mention I’m wearing the Victoria’s Secret Fantasy Bra? You’re going to love it. It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”
Catch Lais on the runway wearing the 2017 Champagne Nights Fantasy Bra at this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, airing November 28 at 10/9c on CBS.