The Victoria’s Secret lingerie runway show is one of the biggest events of the year in the world of fashion. Leggy models, beautiful sets and the lingerie are the features most viewers (probably mostly men) are noticing when the lingerie show hits the airwaves and the Internet. Of course, the lingerie, the sets and the music are all part of the grand show but the models -- the beautiful people who fill out the lingerie -- are the true stars of the show.

We all know Adriana Lima, Miranda Kerr and Alessandra Ambrosio are the headliners strutting down the catwalk, but how did they get that gig? How did these models and the ones who came before them (Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington) get on the Victoria Secret show? Besides being tall, leggy, voluptuous and beautiful, they too have standards set in order to fit in and become a Victoria’s Secret runway model.

At the heart of the model casting model (pardon the pun) is Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou who is the creative director for Victoria’s Secret. This no nonsense, terribly honest and extremely coarse casting director is the "gatekeeper" between the models and the show. She has been told by many models who underwent the casting process that the whole ordeal was “terrifying”. The nerve-racking audition involves going through a gauntlet of casting directors, show producers and company executives.

What the company seeks is equivalent to an athlete in “peak condition”. Aesthetically, the look they seek involves a lean, toned physique, a great runway walk, sex appeal and striking beauty. One of the most sought after models today, Kate Upton, has been regarded as not meeting that standard. The reason being according to Neophitou-Apostolou was that Upton is too voluptuous and in her words, looked like a “tacky bimbo”.

Adriana Lima equates preparing for the show to training for a marathon. She mentioned that she prepared two months before the audition by going on a liquid diet and working out twice a day. Finally, by the time of her audition (Yes, she still has to audition.), she has to present herself in front of team of executives and show directors seated at a long table. There, she is judged on her shape and her overall looks.

The Victoria’s Secret show is possibly the biggest fashion runway show ever. It is broadcasted on national TV and it is one of the most watched live-streamed events on the Internet. The eyes of the world will be on these models and on Victoria Secret’s. The company knows this and so they want their spokesmodels to be the very essence of beauty and sexiness. And they will go through Draconian measures to get the best models on the catwalk. These beautifuls know this and will go through their own Draconian measures to get on the show.

Image credit: musaliv on Flickr