PARIS • It took a fair bit of cheek - and not a little phlegm on a freezing Paris night - for the brash American lingerie brand Victoria's Secret to hold its first fashion show in the city that invented sexy underwear.

And true to the brand's brazen style, the spectacle featured a megastar - Lady Gaga, who performed - along with models Gigi and Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Adriana Lima, as well as a jewel-encrusted "fantasy" bra.

Jasmine Tookes, the first black woman to sport the Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra in nine years, closed the show modelling the emerald- and diamond-encrusted US$3-million (S$4.3 million) bra.

Ex-Swedish professional basketball player Elsa Hosk also made her debut to promote the brand's new sportswear range under the hallowed dome of Paris' Grand Palais.

Although Victoria's Secret has nearly 1,000 shops in the United States with US$7.6 billion sales last year, it is almost unknown in France, where there is a long tradition of high-quality lingerie.

The show airs in 190 countries from Monday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE