KOAT reports that Nanabah Grace, an IMG model and Victoria's Secret angel from Cortez, Colorado, made history as the first Navajo woman ever to walk the Victoria's Secret runway.

The moment came in what KOAT describes as the most-watched fashion show ever, with more than 3.5 million people watching this past Sunday. For Grace, a Montezuma-Cortez High School graduate, the walk fulfilled what she called every model's dream.

'It was so, so surreal,' she told KOAT, describing the runway as fun and playful.

What makes the moment remarkable is how long the runway went without Indigenous representation at this level.

Grace told KOAT that she takes the responsibility seriously 'just because there aren't a lot of us in these spaces,' and that the weight of the first sank in only when a friend asked whether she realized she was the first Navajo to ever walk the runway.

She announced the news at a party full of natives in her community, and the excitement there made the historic nature of the booking real to her.

Grace told KOAT she framed the milestone through her Diné culture, saying representation means 'to walk in beauty.' She wore long beaded earrings as a piece of home and said she carries her family, her ancestors and the people from back home with her.

KOAT notes she reconnected with traditions like praying and learning to tie her hair once living on her own, and that backstage even her hair became a talking point, requiring multiple blowouts through the day.

According to Grace's account to KOAT, Pat McGrath adjusted the show makeup to the models' features — for Grace that meant extra glitter and a winged eyeliner to play up what she described as really big eyes, aiming for a sultrier look.

Gulf News, covering the same show, reports the Los Angeles runway also featured a debut by Ravleen Varghese, a 25-year-old Kerala-origin model raised in Dubai, who walked twice and joined a small group of Indian and Indian-origin models ever cast by the brand.

The Southern News's review of the 2026 show describes a nostalgia-heavy spectacle: Bella Hadid opened in a green ensemble with floral wings, original Angels Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Candice Swanepoel returned — marking Ambrosio's 20th runway appearance for the brand — and Lima closed the night.

The outlet reports the Fantasy Bra returned after eight years, a $50 million Jacob & Co. creation with 4,410 natural diamonds and a 75.54-carat yellow diamond, worn by Kylie Jenner in her runway debut.

Grace told KOAT she now hopes to inspire young people from her hometown and Native communities, saying that being visibly Indigenous shows youth 'you can do anything you want to... You really can.'

She credited the casting team, including DM Casting and Piergiorgio Del Moro, for giving her the space, and Gulf News frames the show's renewed emphasis on diversity and representation — after the runway was discontinued following 2018 and revived in 2024 — as the context that makes debuts like hers and Varghese's possible.