Jump to content

Victoria's Secret

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Victoria’s Secret Angels)
Victoria's Secret & Co.
Company typePublic
IndustryApparel
FoundedJune 12, 1977; 47 years ago (1977-06-12)
Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, California, U.S.[1]
Founders
Headquarters,
U.S.
Number of locations
1,070 (2020)
775 (by 2021)
Areas served
Primarily US and Canada
Key people
  • Martin Waters (CEO)[3]
  • Greg Unis (president)
  • Dein Boyle (COO)
Products
RevenueDecrease US$11.84 billion (2021)[4]
Increase US$1.58 billion (2021)[4]
Increase US$844 million (2021)[4]
Total assetsIncrease US$11.57 billion (2021)[4]
Total equityDecrease –US$662 million (2021)[5]
DivisionsPink
Victoria's Secret Beauty
Victoria's Secret Lingerie
Websitevictoriassecret.com

Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford Student and his wife, Roy and Gaye Raymond,[6][7] the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner in 1982.[8] Wexner rapidly expanded into American shopping malls, growing the company into 350 stores nationally with sales of $1 billion by the early 1990s, when Victoria's Secret became the largest lingerie retailer in the United States.[9]

From 1995 through 2018, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was a major part of the brand's image, featuring an annual runway spectacle of models promoted by the company as fantasy Angels.[9] The 1990s saw the company's further expansion throughout shopping malls, along with the introduction of the 'miracle bra', the new brand Body by Victoria, and the development of a line of fragrances and cosmetics. In 2002, Victoria's Secret announced the launch of PINK, a brand that was aimed to teenagers and young women.[10][11] Starting in 2008, Victoria's Secret expanded internationally, with retail outlets within international airports, franchises in major cities overseas, and company-owned stores throughout Canada and the UK.[12]

By 2016, Victoria's Secret's market share began to decline due to competition from other brands that embraced a wider range of sizes[13] and a growing consumer preference for athleisure.[14] The company canceled the circulation of their catalog in 2016. The brand struggled to maintain its market position following criticism and controversy over the unsavory behavior and business practices of corporate leadership under Wexner and Ed Razek.[15][16][17] As of May 2020, with over 1,070 stores, Victoria's Secret remained the largest lingerie retailer in the United States.[14][9][18]

History

[edit]

1977–1981

[edit]

Victoria's Secret was founded by Roy Raymond, and his wife, Gaye Raymond,[2][6][7] on June 12, 1977.[19] [8] The first store was opened in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California.[8] Years earlier, Raymond was embarrassed when purchasing lingerie for his wife at a department store. Newsweek reported Roy Raymond stating: "When I tried to buy lingerie for my wife, I was faced with racks of terry-cloth robes and ugly floral-print nylon nightgowns, and I always had the feeling the department store saleswomen thought I was an unwelcome intruder."[20] Roy also Stated "The women's lingerie section was extremely uncomfortable for a man. He wandered the aisles for a long time, feeling awkward, and the saleswomen couldn't help him because their work was exclusively focused on serving women. Raymond left the store without making a purchase. Instead, he was determined to realize his new idea – to open a lingerie store with an atmosphere and environment where even men would feel comfortable shopping.[21]" Raymond reportedly spent the next eight years studying the lingerie market.[22][2]

At the time when the Raymond's founded Victoria's Secret, the undergarments market in the U.S. was dominated by pragmatic items from Fruit of the Loom, Hanes, and Jockey, often sold in packs of three at department stores, while lingerie was reserved for special occasions such as one's honeymoon.[23] Considered niche products, lingerie items (such as lacy thongs and padded push-up bras) were only found in specialty shops like Frederick's of Hollywood, located "alongside feathered boas and provocative pirate costumes".[23] In 1977, Raymond borrowed $40,000 from family and $40,000 from a bank to establish Victoria's Secret: a store in which men could feel comfortable buying lingerie.[8][24] The store was named in reference to Queen Victoria and the associated refinement of the Victorian era, while the "secret" was hidden underneath the clothes.[24]

Victoria's Secret grossed $500,000 in its first year of business ($2.34 million in 2023),[8] enough to finance the expansion from a headquarters and warehouse to four new store locations[25] and a mail-order operation.[8] The fourth store, added in 1982 at 395 Sutter Street in San Francisco,[26] operated at that location until 1990, when it was moved to the larger Powell Street frontage of the Westin St. Francis.[27]

In April 1982, Raymond sent out his 12th catalog at a cost to customers of $3 (equivalent to $9 in 2023); catalog sales accounted for 55% of the company's $7 million annual sales that year.[26] Victoria's Secret was a minor player in the underwear market at this time, with the business described as "more burlesque than Main Street."[28]

1982–1990

[edit]

In 1982, Victoria's Secret had grown to five stores, a 40-page catalog, and was grossing $6 million annually.[8] Raymond sold the company to Les Wexner, creator of Limited Stores Inc of Columbus, Ohio, for $1 million.[8][29] In 1983, Wexner revamped Victoria's Secret's sales model towards a greater focus on female customers.[30] Victoria's Secret transformed into a mainstay that sold broadly accepted underwear with "new colors, patterns and styles that promised sexiness packaged in a tasteful, glamorous way and with the snob appeal of European luxury" meant to appeal to female buyers.[30] To further this image, the Victoria's Secret catalog continued the practice that Raymond began:[31] listing the company's headquarters on catalogs at a fake London address, with the real headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.[30] The stores were redesigned to evoke the Victorian era.

The New York Times reported in 1982 that the financial success of the Victoria's Secret catalog influenced other catalogs by presenting lingerie as "romantic and sensual but tasteful", "in which models are photographed in ladylike poses against elegant backgrounds."[26] Howard Gross became president in 1985.[32] In October of that year, the Los Angeles Times reported that Victoria's Secret was stealing market share from department stores;[33] in 1986, Victoria's Secret was the only national chain devoted to lingerie.[34]

The New York Times reported that Victoria's Secret swiftly expanded to 100 stores by 1986.[35] and described it in 1987 as a "highly visible leader" that used "unabashedly sexy high-fashion photography to sell middle-priced underwear."[36] In 1990, analysts estimated that sales had quadrupled in four years, making it one of the fastest growing mail-order businesses.[37] Sales and profits from the catalog continued to expand due to the addition of clothing, swimwear and shoes and wider circulation.[citation needed]

Cynthia Fedus-Fields oversaw the company's direct business, including its catalog, from the mid-1980s until 2000.[38]  During her tenure, total revenues increased to nearly $1 billion.[38] In 1987, Victoria's Secret was reported to be among the bestselling catalogs.[39][40]

1991–2005

[edit]

Victoria's Secret experienced quality problems with their product in the early 1990s and was working to resolve the issues.[41][42] In 1991, Howard Gross was assigned to fix the L Brands subsidiary Limited Stores.[43] In 1993, Business Week reported that both divisions suffered.[41] Grace Nichols, who worked to improve the product quality, succeeded Gross.[43] The company's margins tightened, resulting in slower growth in profits.[41]

With the introduction of their own line of fragrances in 1991 and their entry into the billion-dollar cosmetics market in 1998, Victoria's Secret expanded beyond apparel in the 1990s.[44]

Victoria's Secret introduced the 'Miracle Bra' in 1993, selling two million within the first year.[45] When faced with competition from Sara Lee's WonderBra a year later, in 1994, the company responded with a TV campaign.[45] At the same time, in 1994, Wexner discussed the creation of a company fashion event with Ed Razek. The first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, held in 1995 in New York, became a mainstay for the company's image for the next 23 years.

By 1998, Victoria's Secret's market share of the intimate apparel market was 14 percent[46][11] and the company also entered the $3.5 billion cosmetic market.[47] The following year, in 1999, the company added the Body by Victoria line.[48] The catalog had achieved "an almost cult-like following".[49] In May 2000, Cynthia Fedus-Fields stepped down as CEO after delivering record profits in 1999 and early 2000.[citation needed] Fedus-Fields later claimed that, up until the time of her departure, the company had acted in accordance with the sensibilities of what a European woman would choose to wear.[38] After her departure in 2000, the brand pursued an image that was "much more blatantly sexy."[38]

In May 2000, Wexner installed Sharen Jester Turney, previously of Neiman Marcus Direct, as the new chief executive of Victoria's Secret Direct to turn around catalog sales that were lagging behind other divisions.[50] Forbes reported Turney stating, "We need to quit focusing on all that cleavage."[50] In 2000, Turney began to redefine Victoria's Secret catalog from "breasts—spilling over the tops of black, purple and reptile-print underthings" to one that would appeal to an "upscale customer who now feels more comfortable buying La Perla or Wolford lingerie.";[50] "dimming the hooker looks" such as "tight jeans and stilettos"; and moving from "a substitute for Playboy in some dorm rooms," to something closer to a Vogue lifestyle layout, where lingerie, sleepwear, clothes and cosmetics appear throughout the catalog.[50] Beginning in 2000, Grace Nichols, CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct, led a similar change at Victoria's Secret's stores—moving away from an evocation of 1800s England (or a Victorian bordello).[50]

2006–2020

[edit]
Victoria's Secret storefront in Columbus, Ohio, 2012

By 2006, Victoria's Secret's 1,000 stores across the United States accounted for one third of all purchases in the intimate apparel industry. [51] In May 2006, Wexner promoted Turney from the Victoria's Secret catalog and online units to lead the whole company.[28] In 2008, she acknowledged "product quality that doesn't equal the brand's hype."[52] In September 2006, Victoria's Secret reportedly tried to make their catalog feel more like magazines by head-hunting writers from Women's Wear Daily.[53]

The company had about a third of the market share in its category in 2013.[11]

In February 2016, Turney stepped down as CEO of Victoria's Secret after being in the business for a decade.[54][55][56] Victoria's Secret was split into three divisions: Victoria's Secret Lingerie, Victoria's Secret Beauty, and Pink, each with a separate CEO.[57] In 2016, direct sales only grew 1.6% and fell by 7.4% in the last quarter of the year, typically a high revenue period due to the holidays. The company discontinued its use of a print catalog and dropped certain categories of clothing, such as swimwear.[58] Sales revenue continued to stagnate and drop in early 2017.[59]

In late 2018, CEO Jan Singer resigned amid declining sales.[60] The Wall Street Journal reported that only one quarter showed an increase in same-store sales between 2016 and 2018.[61] Singer's announcement came one week after CMO Ed Razek made a controversial comment that the company does not cast transgender or plus-size models in its annual fashion show "because the show is a fantasy."[62] After a 40% stock plunge in a single year, Victoria's Secret announced the closure of 53 stores in the U.S. in 2019, as well as the relaunch of its swimwear line.[63] L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, came under public pressure in 2019 from an activist shareholder of Barington Capital Group, L.P., who took issue with the performance of Razek and urged the company to update its brand image and switch up its predominantly male board of directors.[64]

In August 2019, chief marketing officer Ed Razek resigned following a disastrous Vogue interview in which he made inflammatory statements about transgender models.[65] Also in 2019, executive vice president April Holy stepped down after 16 years.[66][67] In November 2019, Victoria's Secret announced it would no longer hold the annual fashion show featuring its angels, indicating a major change in marketing strategy.[68]

External video
video icon How Victoria's Secret revolutionized lingerie — then fell behind CNBC, 2019, 10:54

In January 2020, L Brands chairman and CEO Lex Wexner was in talks to step down.[69] Reports of widespread bullying and harassment at Victoria's Secret surfaced in February 2020.[16][70] On February 1, 2020, The New York Times published an exposé on "the culture of misogyny" at Victoria's Secret, which painted a picture of long-time influential executive Ed Razek's rampant sexual misconduct.[16]

The company announced a sale in February 2020 to private equity firm Sycamore Partners for $525 million, with L Brands retaining a 45% minority stake.[71][72] On April 22, 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sycamore Partners wanted out of the deal, which included exceptions for a pandemic.[73][74] The deal ultimately fell through. Wexner stepped down but maintains a role as chairman emeritus.

In June 2020, a shareholder filed a lawsuit against the company for inaction following reports of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation at Victoria's Secret.[75]

Shareholders of parent company L Brands filed a complaint in the Court of Chancery of Delaware on January 14, 2021, stating that former chair Wexner, among others, created an "entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment" and was aware of abuses being committed by accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which breached his fiduciary duty to the company, causing devaluation of the brand. The complaint also names Wexner's wife, Abigail, current chair, Sarah E. Nash, and former marketing officer, Ed Razek, whose "widely known misconduct" was long allowed at the company.[76]

2021–present

[edit]
VS & Co logo after split from L Brands

In 2021, after the resignation of Razek as well as the sale of the company by Wexner, Victoria's Secret's new ownership and management implemented policy changes and new partnerships with a number of new spokeswomen, including Megan Rapinoe, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Naomi Osaka.[77][78] Wexner's parent company, L Brands spun Victoria's Secret off to become an independent business (trading on the NYSE as VSCO) on August 3, 2021.[79] Following this brand positioning, Victoria's Secret reported sales increase in all three completed quarters of 2021.[80][81]

Martin Waters was named CEO in 2021, replacing Stuart Burgdorfer, who had served as interim CEO.[82] In July 2022, Victoria's Secret named Amy Hauk chief executive of both the Victoria's Secret and Pink brands.[83]

In November 2022, it was announced that Victoria's Secret had acquired the New York-headquartered lingerie brand, Adore Me for US$400 million.[84]

In October 2023, several media outlets reported about Victoria's Secret's planning on reverting their rebranding and going back to their marketing strategy before. The decision was made after the initial sales increase from the rebranding turned into plunging sales.[85][86]

Products

[edit]
Victoria's Secret lingerie, store display in Seattle in 2008

In addition to the primary brand of lingerie for Victoria's Secret, the company has secondary product lines: namely, activewear known as Victoria sports, swimwear, and a beauty division with fragrances, make-up, accessories, and other bath and body products.

The swimwear, introduced in 2002,[87] was made available until April 2016, when the company announced that the line would end and be replaced by a new line of activewear.[88] The swim line was relaunched in November 2018.[89] In March 2019, the swim line was made available in shops.[63]

In 2010, Victoria's Secret launched the 'Incredible' bra.[90] The company released Victoria's Secret Designer Collection in 2012, described by Vogue as the company's "first high end lingerie line."[91] In 2016, Victoria's Secret confined the elimination of swimwear, apparel, shoes, and accessories.[92] In 2017, the company began to put more emphasis on bralettes (bras without underwire, often intended to be worn visibly) and sports bras (under the Victoria Sport label) to appeal to a younger customer base.[93]

In 2019, Victoria's Secret relaunched its product line of eyewear and footwear, in hopes of boosting struggling sales for the brand.[63]

In October 2021, Pink launched a line of reusable period panties.[94][95]

In 2022, Victoria's Secret & Co. announced they would no longer use cashmere in their product lines.[96]

Operating divisions

[edit]
Victoria's Secret store, New York

The Victoria's Secret brand is organized into three divisions: 'Victoria's Secret Stores' (physical locations), 'Victoria's Secret Direct' (online and catalog operations), and 'Victoria's Secret Beauty' (bath and cosmetics).[9] The change was made in 2016 by Wexner to "refocus on core business" and it required each division to have its own CEO.[9][92]

Physical locations

[edit]

The physical store locations were an important part of establishing the brand and remained concentrated in the United States from 1977 until the early 2000s.

Victoria's Secret stores took over the lingerie market during the 1980s by using a fabricated sense of Britain, featuring this romantic styling and soft classical music.[46][97] In the early years, Wexner himself was involved in carefully orchestrating store interior design through the use of English floral wallpaper circa 1890, gilded fixtures, classical music, soft lighting, the scent of old-fashioned sachet, and elegant perfume bottles that "look like your grandmother's crystal".[98]

August 2011 map of store locations in the United States
A Victoria's Secret store in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

During the 1990s, in-store sales at Victoria's Secret increased by 30% after the company tracked and applied data analysis of where specific styles, sizes, and colors were selling.[99] The decade also brought an expansion of store size to triple from 1,400 square feet (130 m2) to an average 4,500 square feet (420 m2).[100] The trend continued into 2002, when the average Victoria's Secret store was 6,000 square feet (560 m2).[101][102]

In 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that the company continued the practice of putting on "a British air—or what the Ohio-based chain thinks Americans believe is British. Boudoirish. Tony. Upscale."[103]

By 2010, there were 1,000 Victoria's Secret lingerie stores and 100 independent Victoria's Secret Beauty Stores in the United States, mostly in shopping centers, then offering bras, panties, hosiery, cosmetics, and sleepwear.[104]

International stores

[edit]

The international expansion of Victoria's Secret stores began in 2008.[12] As of 2016, L Brands maintained control of operations at company-owned stores in Canada, the UK, and China but relied on franchises elsewhere in the world for its Victoria's Secret Beauty & Accessory (VSBA) locations.[12][105]

Canada
[edit]

The drive for growth, coupled with a maturing American retail market, led to a shift towards expansion, first into Canada.[104][106] In 2010, the first Canadian store opened in Edmonton, Alberta. In 2012, Victoria's Secret opened stores in Nova Scotia and Quebec.[107] Several of the company's stores in Canada are considered large by retail standards and span more than 10,000 square feet (930 m2) each. As of 2020, the company's Canadian locations included cities in all ten provinces, from British Columbia all the way to the Maritimes. However, the company announced in May 2020 plans to permanently shutter 13 of its 38 Canadian stores, representing a loss of one-third of the Canadian fleet.[108]

United Kingdom
[edit]

Victoria's Secret opened a store at the Westfield Shopping Centre, Stratford, London in July 2012.[109] Their flagship 40,386-square-foot- (3,752.0 m2) store on New Bond Street, London followed in August 2012.[110] Locations in the United Kingdom include the cities of Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Westfield London, Bluewater, Brent Cross and Glasgow.[citation needed] As of June 2020, there were 25 stores in the United Kingdom.[111] That same month, Retail Dive reported that as the brand's UK arm filed the "equivalent of Chapter 11" bankruptcy, as it struggled with falling sales, profits, and market share.[112]

China
[edit]

In 2016, it was reported that L Brands fully purchased 26 stores back from its franchise partners in China.[105] The company announced plans to expand on the existing 26 Victoria's Secret Beauty & Accessory (VSBA) stores (boutiques which sold beauty products in airports or malls), through the addition of flagship stores in Shanghai and Beijing.[105]

Reuters reported that, as of June 2020, Victoria's Secret had two dozen stores in Greater China.[113] That same month, the company permanently closed its 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) flagship store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong after only two years of operation.[114][115]

On January 25, 2022, Victoria's Secret announced a Joint venture partnership agreement with Regina Miracle International (Holdings) Limited. Under the terms of the agreement, Victoria's Secret will own 51% of the joint venture and Regina Miracle will own 49%. CEO Martin Waters commented, "I am delighted to announce this partnership with Regina Miracle, who has been a valued merchandise supplier partner for more than twenty years. Together with Regina Miracle, we aim to grow the China business through joint investment in product development, distribution, and marketing. We expect the partnership will positively impact the speed and agility of the business to benefit consumers and provide us with a platform for a strong future in this important market."[116]

Victoria's Secret Direct

[edit]

Catalog (1977–2016)

[edit]

Prior to the emergence of e-commerce, the company's catalogs were a key aspect of successfully marketing a product considered risqué to consumers in the privacy of their own homes. According to Joseph Sugarman, the 1979 catalog was "a lot more sensuous" and took the form of "an upmarket version of a Frederick's of Hollywood lingerie catalog."[117]

The New York Times reported that the success of Victoria's Secret catalogs influenced others to present lingerie as "romantic and sensual but tasteful" with models photographed in elegant settings. The company was known for accepting phone orders at any hour, which helped it establish dominance in the lingerie market. The Los Angeles Times described the catalog in 2000 as having achieved "an almost cult-like following."[citation needed] The company was mailing more than 400 million catalogs annually in 2010.[118]

In May 2016, the brand decided to discontinue the catalog, which had run at a cost of $125 million to $150 million annually, due to concern that catalogs had grown stale as a marketing device and confidence that sales would not be affected.[119]

E-commerce

[edit]

Victoria's Secret spent three years building an e-commerce website that was officially launched on December 4, 1998. Following heavy promotion of the 1999 fashion show, the website experienced high traffic volumes, with visitors enduring "slowdowns and bottlenecks" while viewing the first online fashion show on February 3, 1999, the largest online streaming event to date, reaching an estimated 1.5 million viewers.[120][121] Ad placement in the Wall Street Journal and a 30-minute TV spot during the Super Bowl contributed to drive record numbers of visitors to the website.[120]

Victoria's Secret Beauty

[edit]

In 1998, Intimate Brands Inc., the parent company of Victoria's Secret, created a new entity: Intimate Beauty Corporation.[122] The goal for Intimate Beauty Corporation was to manage and develop the bath, fragrance and cosmetic products for Victoria's Secret.[122] By 2006, the Victoria's Secret Beauty division had reported sales of nearly US$1 billion.[123] The company sought to expand its beauty and accessories stores at airports around the world in the early 2010s.[124]

Franchise locations worldwide (VSBA)

[edit]

Victoria's Secret Beauty opened a provisional UK boutique at Heathrow Airport in 2005 through partnership with World Duty Free.[125]

In 2010, Victoria's Secret expanded with Victoria's Secret Beauty & Accessory (VSBA) franchises internationally. That year, M.H. Alshaya Co. opened the first Victoria's Secret store in the Marina Mall in Kuwait, selling cosmetics and accessories but not the company's lingerie line.[126] Two VSBA stores were opened in the early 2010s at Schiphol International Airport, Netherlands.[127][128] That same year, the first Latin American franchise store opened in Isla Margarita, Venezuela, followed by a store in Bogota, Colombia, in July 2012.[129] An additional store opened in the Multiplaza Mall in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 2012.[130]

A Caribbean location opened in November 2011 at Plaza Las Americas in San Juan, Puerto Rico[131] followed by a store in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, at the Agora,[132] and Sambil Santo Domingo[133] malls in 2012. In July 2012, the first Polish store opened at the Złote Tarasy shopping mall in Warsaw, also operated by M.H. Alshaya Co.[134]

A Serbian store opened in January 2014 at the Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade.[135]

As of 2016, L Brands had more than 370 VSBA franchise shops worldwide, with the company's largest international market reportedly in Turkey and the Middle East.[105]

Corporate affairs

[edit]

Ownership and name

[edit]

The company's business name changed from Victoria's Secret, Inc. to Victoria's Secret Stores, Inc., after the 1982 sale to Wexner. In 2005, the name was revised to Victoria's Secret Stores, LLC.[citation needed]

Victoria's Secret was originally owned by The Limited.[136] Victoria's Secret's parent company was Intimate Brands, a separately traded entity with Ed Razek as president.[28][137] In 2002, Intimate Brands was combined with the Limited, then renamed Limited Brands.[138]

By 2006, the majority of the revenue for Limited Brands came from Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works.[139]

In July 2007, Limited Brands sold a 75% interest in Limited Stores and Express to Sun Capital Partners, in order to focus on expanding their Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works units.[140] The sale resulted in Limited Brands taking a $42 million after-tax loss.[139]

In 2013, parent company Limited Brands officially changed its name to L Brands.[141]

Victoria's Secret recorded peak worldwide net sales in 2016 of $7.78 billion.[142] In 2019, worldwide net sales had receded to $6.81 billion.[142]

Management structure

[edit]

At 'Victoria's Secret Stores', Howard Gross was promoted to president of the division in 1985.[32] Grace Nichols succeeded Gross and led the division from 1991 through 2007.[143][144] Victoria's Secret Stores was helmed by Lori Greely from 2007 until 2013.[145]

Cynthia Fedus-Fields served as president and CEO and oversaw the Victoria's Secret Direct business, including its catalog, from the mid-1980s until 2000.[38] She was succeeded in May 2000 by Sharen Jester Turney as chief executive of the division.[50] Turney stepped down in 2016 and was succeeded by Jan Singer as CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct from 2016 to 2018.[146] John Mehas was appointed CEO starting in 2019.[147] He was replaced by Martin Waters in November 2020.[148]

Hired by L Brands in 1998, Robin Burns was CEO of Victoria's Secret Beauty until 2004.[149] Burns was succeeded in August 2004 by Jill Granoff, COO, and Sherry Baker, president.[150] In May 2006, Christine Beauchamp was named president and CEO of Victoria's Secret Beauty. Shashi Batra was appointed president of the division in 2009.[151] In November 2012 Susie Coulter became president of Victoria's Secret Beauty.[152] Greg Unis was hired to serve as CEO of the beauty division in 2016.[153]

Manufacturing and environmental record

[edit]

In 2006, the Financial Times reported that Victoria's Secret paid factory workers $7 per day to make bras in Thailand.[154] The Huffington Post stated in 2011 that working conditions in factories producing Victoria's Secret items in Jordan were comparable to slave labor as a result of the Jordan–United States Free Trade Agreement, which retreated from standards established in the 1990s.[155] In 2012, Victoria's Secret was manufacturing bras in the South Indian city of Guduvancheri.[156][157]

In 2021, Victoria's Secret fronted the money to more than 1,250 Thai garment workers who were owed $8.3 million when their factory, Brilliant Alliance, closed after declaring bankruptcy.[158]

After years of pressure from environmentalists, Victoria's Secret and a conservation group reached an agreement to make the catalog more environmentally friendly in 2006.[159][160] Catalog wood pulp was required to contain 10 percent recycled paper and avoid source forests with woodland caribou habitats in Canada, unless certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.[161] The company bought organic and fair trade-grown cotton to make some of its panties in 2012.[162]

Marketing

[edit]
Victoria's Secret visual merchandising with Angel wing display. Las Vegas, Nevada store, 2006

Since the company's founding, the mail order catalog has been its main method of marketing. Early catalogs featured lingerie-clad models holding violins and glasses of sherry.[163] Catalog marketing shifted towards female models accompanied by men for several years in the 1980s, a practice that was eventually abandoned by 1991.[163]

In the early 1980s, Victoria's Secret used FCB/Leber Katz Partners for the development of their brand, marketing, and advertising.[164] In 1989, FCB/Leber Katz Partners and Victoria's Secret executed a national advertising campaign with a ten-page glossy insert in the November issue of Elle, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Victoria, House Beautiful, Bon Appétit, New Woman, and People magazines.[100] Victoria's Secret used the insert to announce their expansion into the toiletries and fragrance business.[100] The catalog, sporadic ads in fashion magazines, and word of mouth had all contributed to the company's growth before the insert.[100]

Ed Razek joined in-house branding operations at the Limited in the 1980s and increasingly began to shape the marketing and branding at Victoria's Secret.[150] However, Razek credited Wexner as the creative force behind much of the marketing.[150] The company gained notoriety in the early 1990s after it began to hire supermodels for its advertising and fashion shows.[165] Well-known models hired in the early 1990s included Stephanie Seymour, Karen Mulder, Yasmeen Ghauri, and Jill Goodacre.[166][167] The models helped the brand gain an audience and were soon featured in televised commercials.

From 1995 to 2018, L Brands used the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show as a significant marketing tool.[168][9] The show was a mix of "beautiful models scantily clad in lingerie" and A-list entertainers that, over time, became "less about fashion and more about show".[168] The 2000 fashion show in France was produced with the help of Harvey Weinstein.[150]

In 1999, a 30-second Super Bowl advertisement resulted in one million visits to the company's website within an hour of airing.[169]

Victoria's Secret sued a strip-mall store in Elizabethtown, Kentucky called Victor's Little Secret over the issue of trademark dilution.[170] On March 4, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Victoria's Secret in Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. on the grounds that there was insufficient proof of actual harm to the trademark.[170]

In 2004, Victoria's Secret presented an uncharacteristic advertisement with Bob Dylan as an alternative means of promoting the brand.[171][172][173] Razek, then chief creative officer, credited Wexner himself with the idea to cast Dylan in a commercial.[172] The ad proved to be memorable, but more out of a tendency to unsettle and baffle viewers familiar with Dylan.[171][172][173]

Victoria's Secret TV commercials, directed by Michael Bay, were released in 2010 and 2012 with mixed results, regarded by critics as macho and misguided.[174][175][16]

In 2014, the company created a campaign to market its Body bra line called The Perfect Body, that elicited substantial controversy for supporting only a limited and unhealthy body type.[176]

Victoria's Secret announced the appointment of Raul Martinez as head creative director in December 2020.[177] Martinez, formerly of Condé Nast, took on the role following the departure of chief executive John Mehas, who stepped down in November 2020.[177]

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

[edit]
Kelly Gale at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, 2014

The first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was held in 1995 and was broadcast on primetime American television.[178] The fashion show, overseen by Ed Razek, was described by Newsweek as "a combination of self-assured strutting for women and voyeuristic pleasures for men" that made lingerie mainstream entertainment.[179]

Ken Weil, vice president at Victoria's Secret, and Tim Plzak, responsible for IT at Victoria's Secret's parent company, Intimate Brands, led Victoria's Secret's first-ever online streaming of their fashion show in 1999.[137] The 18-minute webcast streamed February 2, 1999, was at the time the Internet's "biggest event" since inception.[137] The 1999 webcast was reported as a failure by a number of newspapers on account of some users' inability to watch the show featuring Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, and Stephanie Seymour[180] as a result of Victoria's Secret's technology falling short being able to meet the online user demand resulting in network congestion and users who could see the webcast receiving jerky frames.[137] In all, the company's website saw over 1.5 million visits, a number significantly higher than the 250,000 and 500,000 simultaneous viewers that Broadcast.com, the website hosting the show, was able to handle.[181] In total, 1.5 million viewers either attempted or viewed the webcast.[182]

The 1999 webcast served to create a database for Victoria's Secret of over 500,000 current and potential customers by requiring users to submit their contact details to view the webcast.[137] The next spring, Victoria's Secret avoided technical issues by partnering with Broadcast.com, America Online, and Microsoft.[137]

By 2011, the budget for the fashion show was $12 million, up from the first show's budget of $120,000.[183] In November 2019, Victoria's Secret canceled its runway show. In July 2021, the company said there are plans to relaunch the show, but without the Victoria's Secret Angels.[184]

In May 2024, PageSix reported that Victoria's Secret intends to bring back the fashion show after a five year-hiatus.[185]

Victoria's Secret Angels

[edit]
Adriana Lima, the longest-running Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 to 2024.

The company's Angels underwear collection was marketed in 1997 by a TV commercial that included supermodels Helena Christensen, Karen Mulder, Daniela Peštová, Stephanie Seymour, and Tyra Banks. In the commercial, the Angels appear in a white cloudscape in dialog with "God", played by Welsh singer Tom Jones, widely known for his fans' tradition of tossing their panties at him during shows.[186] The spoof proved popular and the Angels, as characters, became a regular feature of the advertising as brand ambassadors. The term "Angel" soon became synonymous with the brand.

Official Angels have greater responsibilities than other runway models for the brand, as the Angels are obliged to appear in marketing campaigns, talk shows, major runway shows, and the annual fashion show.[187] The Angels are contracted spokesmodels for the brand, but the company is not transparent about the terms of these contracts.[187] In 1998, the Angels made their runway debut at Victoria's Secret's 4th annual fashion show (Chandra North filled in for Christensen).[188][189] The brand's Fashion Show and the Angels were closely connected through 2018, the final year that event was held. Some of the early Victoria's Secret Angels included Inés Rivero and Laetitia Casta.[190]

In 2004, the company did not hold a fashion show due to fallout from the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, and instead alternately marketed the brand via a tour called Angels Across America.[191] Victoria's Secret sent its five contract models (Banks, Klum, Bündchen, Lima, and Ambrosio) out for the event.

Victoria's Secret's Angels continued to be featured in popular culture and were chosen to be part of People magazine's annual "100 Most Beautiful People in the World" in 2007.[192] The Angels became the first trademark awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 13, 2007, with Klum, Lima, Ambrosio, Kurkova, Goulart, Ebanks, Marisa Miller, and Miranda Kerr at hand.[193] Alongside new Angel Doutzen Kroes, they also took part in the grand reopening of the Fontainebleau in Miami in 2008.[194]

In 2009, the brand held a nationwide competition for a new Runway Angel.[195] Thousands of contestants applied; Kylie Bisutti prevailed as the winner but soon grew disillusioned and parted ways with the brand.[196] Ellingson, Kroes, and Kloss departed after the 2014 fashion show.[197][198]

Several promotional tours featuring the Angels have been organized by the brand. These included the 2010 Bombshell tour,[199] the 2012 VSX tour,[200] and the 2013 Swim tour.[201][202] In 2015, Angels featured on the brand's first Swim Special were Elsa Hosk, Martha Hunt, Jac Jagaciak, Stella Maxwell, Lais Ribeiro, and Jasmine Tookes, along with model Joan Smalls.[203][204]

In 2019, new Angels Leomie Anderson, Grace Elizabeth, Alexina Graham, and Barbara Palvin, were added to the roster. Palvin made her fashion show debut with Victoria's Secret in 2012, not appearing again until 2018, while Graham (the first redheaded Angel) walked in both 2017 and 2018.[205][206] Anderson began walking in 2015, while Elizabeth (a PINK spokesmodel, 2016 - 2019) walked her first Victoria's Secret show in 2016.[207][208]

The Victoria's Secret brand has had at least 3 dozen official Angels (as of 2020)[209] [a] Other notable spokesmodels for the brand have included Claudia Schiffer,[210] Eva Herzigová,[188] Oluchi Onweagba, Jessica Stam, Ana Beatriz Barros,[211] and Bregje Heinen,[212] as well as celebrities such as Taylor Momsen.[213]

In 2021, the Angels were discontinued in favor of a new concept known as the "VS Collective", which features a more diverse array of models and influencers as spokespeople, such as photographer Amanda de Cadenet, Adut Akech, actress and Miss World 2000 Priyanka Chopra, Paloma Elsesser, soccer player Megan Rapinoe, and Valentina Sampaio—the first openly transgender model to be featured on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.[214]

Pink spokesmodels

[edit]

Criticisms and controversies

[edit]

Harassment and abuse

[edit]

In 2019, nonprofit advocacy group Model Alliance and several other publications reported on initiatives underway in California, New York and the United States aiming to protect models from harassment and sexual abuse.[247][248][16][249]

Silencing of harassment complaints

[edit]

After Razek left Victoria's Secret in 2019, Monica Mitro, a high-ranking executive at the company reported she had been repeatedly verbally abused by Razek during his time there. Mitro was executive vice president of public relations for the brand and was heavily involved in the production of its annual fashion show, having been one of the public faces of the brand. The day after Mitro made her allegations, she showed up to work to find she had been locked out of the building and placed on administrative leave. Though the brand claimed this decision was made prior to Mitro lodging her complaint, many believed this was a retaliatory action by the company and in late 2019 Mitro indicated she was pursuing legal action against her dismissal. It was reported in 2020 that she had settled with the brand for an undisclosed sum.[250]

Connections with Jeffrey Epstein

[edit]

Les Wexner, who founded Victoria's Secret along with Bath & Body Works, was reportedly having direct ties with Jeffrey Epstein, an American sex offender and a pedophile, which he met sometime around 1986.[citation needed] Wexner was also reported giving Epstein attorney powers, and have been reportedly shacked up in his "Wexner Xanadu", which is a property of Les Wexner located in Ohio. Wexner also reportedly gave Epstein his money, an Upper East Side townhouse (which later sold for $51 million[251]), and a Boeing 727 owned by L Brands.[252]

Racism and corporate apologies

[edit]

The company has faced a number of major complaints of racism, profiling, and discrimination[16] by both managers and employees, with several recurring issues being raised by former employees, the federal government, state governments, and customers in the United States.[253][254] Each time, Victoria's Secret management or a corporate spokesperson has issued an apology and disavowed the discriminatory actions of any individual employee.[255] Victoria's Secret has changed some employment practices, and settled some of the cases, including a $12 million settlement in California and New York reached in 2017,[256] and a $179,300 settlement with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.[257]

Influence on socio-cultural body image norms

[edit]

In the 2008 academic research article "Victoria's Dirty Secret: How Sociocultural Norms Influence Adolescent Girls and Women", authors from Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo[258] stated: "Women's body dissatisfaction is influenced by socio-cultural norms for ideal appearance that are pervasive in society and particularly directed at women", cautioning that the marketing practices of Victoria's Secret, delivered through TV commercials, ads, and magazines send a message to girls and women that their models are a realistic standard of beauty, concluding that "Exposure to societal messages that reflect the socio-cultural norm for ideal appearance has a negative effect on women."[258]

Use of cultural stereotypes

[edit]

During the 2010 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the segment 'Wild Things' caused controversy due to the "tribal style" outfits on display. The most notable of these was worn by Afro-Brazilian model Emanuela De Paula who, alongside a group of dancers, was painted with black lines, meant to depict tribal body art. This outfit received backlash from the media, not only for appropriating African culture but for the racist connotations associated with dressing a woman of color in animal print lingerie and body art and branding her a 'Wild Thing'. No apology was released by the brand.[259]

In 2012, the company drew criticism for a lingerie collection offer for sale on their website that was titled 'Go East', with a tagline that pledged to women the capacity to "indulge in touches of eastern delight with lingerie inspired by the exquisite beauty of secret Japanese gardens."[260][261] The collection included a 'Sexy Little Geisha' outfit that was pulled by the company after critics described the items as "stereotypical images that use racist transgression to create an exotic edge."[262] The Wall Street Journal confirmed that the geisha outfit was "accessorized with a miniature fan and a kimono-esque obi sash" and the Asian-themed collection "that traded in sexualized, generic pan-Asian ethnic stereotypes" was removed by the company.[263][264]

At the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, an outfit in the 'Calendar Girls' segment caused controversy. The outfit, worn by Karlie Kloss, was meant to represent November and the American holiday of Thanksgiving, but featured a Native American headdress alongside an animal print bikini. This caused outrage among members of the Native American community, who stated that the headdress depicted had deep cultural significance and was only worn by certain notable war chiefs and warriors. After media backlash over the offensiveness of the outfit and the uncomfortable position that the brand put Kloss in, the outfit was cut from the show's final broadcast. Kloss apologized for the incident via Twitter and the brand later made a statement of apology.[265]

At the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the brand was accused of cultural appropriation during the segment entitled 'The Road Ahead' which drew inspiration from both Chinese and Mexican culture. Kendall Jenner's flame tail wings, Elsa Hosk's dragon costume, and Adriana Lima's embroidered thigh-high boots caused an uproar, as some media and fans believed it was inappropriate for women of other descents to wear items important to Chinese culture. Victoria's Secret claimed it included this segment in the 2016 show because of their recent expansion into the Chinese market, and believed a segment featuring Chinese garments, as well as Liu Wen and Ming Xi, two popular Chinese models, would be a good way to appeal to their new Chinese customer base. No apology or statement was released from the brand.[266]

In the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the brand faced further controversy and allegations of cultural appropriation. The criticism was directed at fashions in the 'Nomadic Adventures' segment that appropriated Native American and Indigenous African cultures.[267] Nylon magazine suggested that the company had learned nothing from previous, similar incidents.[268]

Transgender models

[edit]

In a November 2018 interview with Vogue, Victoria's Secret president Ed Razek stated (when discussing diversity in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show): "Shouldn't you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don't think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It's a 42-minute entertainment special. That's what it is."[269] These comments received immediate backlash from many in the modeling community, including transgender model Carmen Carrera, Kendall Jenner, then Angel Lily Aldridge, and former Angel Karlie Kloss.[270]

Razek later issued an apology, stating "My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive. I apologize. To be clear, we would absolutely cast a transgender model for the show."[270]

In August 2019, the brand cast its first openly transgender Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio, who was hired to work for PINK.[271] That same month, Razek stepped down.[272] In 2022, the brand hired Emira D'Spain as their first Black transgender model.[273] In 2023, the brand hired Alex Consani to be a part of the Victoria Secret rebrand in the 2023 fashion show.[274]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ There have been various instances where the fashion show credits included models who were not Angels but were prominently featured by the brand, such as Candice Swanepoel, Lindsay Ellingson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Erin Heatherton, and Behati Prinsloo in 2009, Lais Ribeiro in 2011, PINK model Elsa Hosk in 2013 and Hosk, Ribeiro, Jasmine Tookes, Martha Hunt, and Stella Maxwell in 2014. All of them later went on to become Angels.
  2. ^ Most Angels started working with the company years prior to signing an Angel contract. Listed above are the dates of first published or aired campaigns or, by default, first runway show or event.
  3. ^ Contracted as a replacement Angel for Helena Christensen during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 1998 and released immediately afterwards

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Melise R. Blakeslee (January 15, 2010). Internet crimes, torts and scams: investigation and remedies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537351-6. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Moyer, Justin (December 9, 2014). "How Victoria's Secret and its fashion show went primetime — after its founder killed himself". Washington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  3. ^ "Biography - Martin Waters". www.victoriassecretandco.com. Archived from the original on 2022-07-02.
  4. ^ a b c d "Annual Report 2021". Bath & Body Works, Inc.
  5. ^ "Symbol Lookup from Yahoo Finance".
  6. ^ a b Bishop, Katherine (December 27, 1986). "An Elegant Kids' Store Fails". New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  7. ^ a b Mzezewa, Tariro (2018-11-16). "Victoria's Secret? In 2018, Fewer Women Want to Hear It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h "Roy Raymond, 47; Began Victoria's Secret". New York Times. September 2, 1993. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Hanbury, Mary (May 21, 2020). "The rise and fall of Victoria's Secret, America's biggest lingerie retailer". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  10. ^ Merrick, Amy (February 29, 2008). "Apparently, You Can Be Too Sexy". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Stevenson, Seth (June 9, 2020). "Victoria's Secret Has Only Itself to Blame". Slate Magazine. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  12. ^ a b c Eaton, Dan (October 17, 2012). "Wexner wants Victoria's Secret accessory stores as 'ubiquitous as Starbucks'". Columbus Business First. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  13. ^ Bhattarai, Abha (February 20, 2020). "5 factors that led to Victoria's Secret's fall". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
  14. ^ a b Cheng, Andria (February 28, 2019). "Victoria's Secret Knows It Has A Problem, But Does It Have Time To Fix It?". Forbes. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  15. ^ Goldberg, Carey (January 3, 2020). "Victoria's Secret Models Got Thinner Over 23 Years Of Fashion Show, Study Finds". WBUR. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Silver-Greenberg, Jessica; Rosman, Katherine; Maheshwari, Sapna; Stewart, James B. (February 1, 2020). "'Angels' in Hell: The Culture of Misogyny Inside Victoria's Secret". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  17. ^ Koul, Scaachi (November 25, 2019). "No One's Gonna Miss The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  18. ^ Thomas, Lauren (May 21, 2020). "Victoria's Secret parent company L Brands set to close 250 stores, and that could just be the start". CNBC. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  19. ^ "Victoria's Secret". Fashion Model Directory. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  20. ^ Newhall, Emily (November 16, 1981). "A Catalog-Business Boom". Newsweek.
  21. ^ Nesterenko (2023-11-08). "The History of Victoria's Secret and the Tragedy of Roy Raymond". Fashion illiteracy. Retrieved 2024-10-21.
  22. ^ Peter J. Rea; Harold Kerzner (September 19, 1997). Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide. Wiley. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-471-29197-8. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  23. ^ a b Adler, Carlye (June 9, 2010). "Victoria's Secret's Secret – The man behind the company that made lingerie mainstream and mall-friendly". Newsweek. Archived from the original on September 13, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
  24. ^ a b Barr, Naomi (October 30, 2013). "Happy Ending, Right?". Slate. United States. The Slate Group. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  25. ^ Tom Pendergast; Sara Pendergast (2000). St. James encyclopedia of popular culture. St. James Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-1-55862-403-0. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  26. ^ a b c Schiro, Anne-Marie (May 15, 1982). "Luxury Lingerie: A Mail-Order Success". New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  27. ^ Watson, Lloyd (June 3, 1990). "Union Square Area Draws Five Big-Name Retailers". San Francisco Chronicle.
  28. ^ a b c Palmeri, Christopher (December 4, 2006). "Victoria's Secret Is Sexy Again". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on November 20, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  29. ^ "Briefs". New York Times. July 15, 1982.
  30. ^ a b c Tomasino, Anna (2007). Discovering popular culture. Pearson Longman. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-321-35596-6. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  31. ^ Faludi, Susan (August 15, 2006). Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-307-34542-4. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  32. ^ a b "Lerner Stores' New President". The New York Times. United States. May 21, 1985. p. D2. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  33. ^ Groves, Martha (November 5, 1985). "Frederick's Tries to Update Its Image as Rivals Get Tougher". Los Angeles Times. United States. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  34. ^ Belkin, Lisa (August 24, 1986). "Lingerie's Great Leap Forward". New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  35. ^ Hochswender, Woody (June 7, 1988). "Patterns". New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  36. ^ Gross, Michael (April 26, 1987). "Lingerie Catalogues: Changing Images". New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  37. ^ Hirsch, James (May 29, 1990). "Victoria's Secret? Keep Earnings Up with Garter Belts". Wall Street Journal. p. A1.
  38. ^ a b c d e Maheshwari, Sapna (September 6, 2019). "Victoria's Secret Had Troubles, Even Before Jeffrey Epstein". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  39. ^ Agins, Teri (January 23, 1992). "Specialty Shops Chase Sweet Scent Of Success". Wall Street Journal. United States.
  40. ^ Asinof, Lynn (April 16, 1987). "Mail-Order Catalog". Wall Street Journal. United States.
  41. ^ a b c "Did Leslie Wexner Take His Eye Off The Ball?". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Bloomberg L.P. May 23, 1993. Archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
  42. ^ Storm, Stephanie (July 7, 1992). "Gap Is Reportedly Adding Women's Underwear Brand". New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  43. ^ a b Strom, Stephanie (November 21, 1993). "Profile: Grace Nichols; When Victoria's Secret Faltered, She Was Quick to Fix It". New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  44. ^ Robertson, David; Lineback, Kent (2017). The Power of Little Ideas: A Low-Risk, High-Reward Approach to Innovation. Harvard Business Press. ISBN 9781633691698.
  45. ^ a b Underwood, Elaine (September 19, 1994). "Bust-Boosting Bra Battle Begins; Victoria's Secret Launches Rare TV Campaign to Fight Wonderbra Barrage". AdWeek.
  46. ^ a b Goldman, Abigail (April 10, 1999). "Amid Wear and Tear, Firm Seeks to Rework Image". Los Angeles Times. United States. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  47. ^ Ono, Yumiko (September 14, 1998). "Victoria's Secret to Launch Makeup With Sexy Names". Wall Street Journal. p. B6. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  48. ^ Ellison, Sarah (May 20, 2002). "Is Less Risque Risky For Victoria's Secret?". Wall Street Journal. p. B1. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  49. ^ Koda, Harold; Yohannan, Kohle (2009). The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 205. ISBN 9781588393135.
  50. ^ a b c d e f Wells, Melanie (November 13, 2000). "Cosmetic Improvement". Forbes.
  51. ^ Barbaro, Michael (July 15, 2006). "What Women Want; Underwear That Fits So Well It Can Be Outerwear". New York Times. United States. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  52. ^ Seckler, Valerie (March 19, 2008). "Advice on Staying Ahead of the Trends". Women's Wear Daily (WWD). p. 8. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  53. ^ Tang, Syl (September 2, 2006). "Catalogue shopping for the discerning crowd". Financial Times. Nikkei. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  54. ^ "Victoria's Secret CEO Quits Suddenly". British Vogue. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  55. ^ Wahba, Phil. "Investors Rattled After Victoria's Secret CEO Quits Suddenly". Fortune. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  56. ^ "The departure of Victoria's Secret's longtime CEO 'does feel very abrupt' - Business Insider". Business Insider. February 17, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  57. ^ Hanbury, Mary (March 15, 2019). "People slammed Victoria's Secret after its marketing chief made controversial comments about transgender models, but he didn't resign. This could be why, according to former executives". Business Insider. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  58. ^ "Victorias Secret direct sales grow little in 2016". Digital Commerce 360. February 23, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  59. ^ "Victoria's Secret Sales Are Down 20% and L Brands' Stock Is Plummeting". Fortune. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  60. ^ Safdar, Khadeeja. "Victoria's Secret Chief Is Out Amid Declining Sales". WSJ. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  61. ^ "Will The Victoria's Secret CEO's Resignation Provoke Brand Change?". Vogue. November 15, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  62. ^ Cadenas, Kerensa. "Victoria's Secret Apologizes After Executive's Statements About Transgender and Plus-Size Models". Vanities. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  63. ^ a b c Talarico, Brittany (March 19, 2019). "Victoria's Secret's Swimwear Line Is Back Just in Time for Spring Break". People. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  64. ^ Hanbury, Mary (March 5, 2019). "An activist shareholder is urging Victoria's Secret parent to update 'tone-deaf' brand image to boost sales". Business Insider. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  65. ^ ""We're Nobody's Third Love, We're Their First Love"—The Architects of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Are Still Banking on Bombshells". November 8, 2018.
  66. ^ Valinsky, Jordan (October 10, 2019). "Victoria's Secret head of stores is stepping down". CNN. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  67. ^ "Victoria's Secret cancels annual televised fashion show as viewers turn off". The Guardian. November 22, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  68. ^ Mackelden, Amy; Gonzales, Erica (November 21, 2019). "Victoria's Secret Officially Cancels Fashion Show". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  69. ^ Silver-Greenberg, Jessica; Maheshwari, Sapna; Rosman, Katherine (January 29, 2020). "Les Wexner, Victoria's Secret Owner, Is in Talks to Step Down". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  70. ^ Gross, Elana Lyn (February 5, 2020). "What The Victoria's Secret Harassment Allegations Teach Us About Retaliation". Forbes. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  71. ^ Accardi, Nicollete (February 21, 2020). "Victoria's Secret sold for $525M; all stores to remain open for now". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  72. ^ Valinksy, Jordan (February 2, 2020). "Victoria's Secret is going private. It's only worth $1.1 billion". CNN. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  73. ^ Lombardo, Khadeeja Safdar and Cara (April 22, 2020). "Victoria's Secret Buyer Seeks to Cancel Takeover After Coronavirus". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  74. ^ Stewart, James B. (April 29, 2020). "The Victoria's Secret Contract That Anticipated a Pandemic". The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  75. ^ Repko, Melissa (June 4, 2020). "Lawsuit filed by shareholder requests records, alleges Victoria's Secret has 'toxic culture of sexual harassment'". CNBC. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  76. ^ "New Complaints About 'Culture of Misogyny' at Victoria's Secret", by Kellie Ell, Women's Wear Daily, January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  77. ^ Maheshwari, Sapna; Friedman, Vanessa (June 16, 2021). "Victoria's Secret Swaps Angels for 'What Women Want.' Will They Buy It?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  78. ^ Ell, Kellie (November 17, 2021). "EXCLUSIVE: Naomi Osaka Joins VS Collective, Talks Mental Health, Fashion and Serena Williams on Victoria's Secret Podcast". WWD. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  79. ^ Thomas, Lauren (July 20, 2021). "Victoria's Secret details comeback plan after L Brands split, admits it lost relevance with women". CNBC. NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. Archived from the original on August 20, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  80. ^ Cornell, Joe. "Newly Separated Victoria's Secret Breaks Free Of Bath & Body Works". Forbes. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  81. ^ "This Week: Tyson Foods, Walmart, Victoria's Secret earnings". WTOP News. November 15, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  82. ^ "L Brands Names New CEO at Victoria's Secret". The Business of Fashion. February 4, 2021. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  83. ^ "Victoria's Secret Names Pink Brand Head as CEO". The Business of Fashion. July 12, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  84. ^ "Victoria's Secret will acquire Adore Me for $400 million to fuel comeback". Vogue Business. November 1, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  85. ^ "'It's not been enough to carry the day': Why the Victoria's Secret rebrand is over". CNN. October 17, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  86. ^ "Sorry, Victoria's Secret, your 'woke' rebrand failed because it was performative pants". The Guardian. October 22, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  87. ^ Branch, Shelly (October 25, 2002). "A New Secret From Victoria: The Bikini Show". Wall Street Journal.
  88. ^ Harrison, Lily (April 21, 2016). "Victoria's Secret Won't Sell Swimsuits Anymore". E! Online. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  89. ^ Ell, Kellie (November 20, 2018). "Victoria's Secret Is Bringing Back Swimwear". WWD. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  90. ^ Rao, Priya (August 11, 2010). "In SoHo, 'Incredible' Launch". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  91. ^ Alexander, Ella (January 25, 2012). "Lingerie Secret". Vogue. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  92. ^ a b Mau, Dhani (May 19, 2016). "Victoria's Secret Reorganizes to Focus on 'Core' Businesses". Fashionista. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  93. ^ Bernard, Katherine (January 4, 2017). "From Push-Ups to Bralettes: Victoria's Secret Revamps". The New York Times. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  94. ^ Brandi (October 19, 2021). "Victoria's Secret PINK Period Panties Only $12.95 (Regularly $20)". Hip2Save.
  95. ^ Ziegler, Ashley (November 2, 2021). "These Brands Making Period Underwear For Teens Are Serious Game Changers". Romper.
  96. ^ "Victoria's Secret bans cashmere!". Apparel Resources. 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  97. ^ Rubin, Sylvia (October 27, 2007). "Bras — a century of suspension". San Francisco Chronicle. United States. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  98. ^ Morgan, James (September 8, 1991). "Frisky Business". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  99. ^ Roger D. Blackwell (November 12, 1997). From Mind to Market: Reinventing the Retail Supply Chain. HarperCollins. pp. 188–189. ISBN 978-0-88730-833-8. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  100. ^ a b c d Groves, Martha (September 18, 1989). "Victoria's Secret Won't Keep Secret Anymore". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  101. ^ Greenberg, Cara (February 14, 1993). "Where Strong Men Fear to Tread". New York Times. No. Foraging. United States. The New York Times Company. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  102. ^ Rozhon, Tracie (October 25, 2002). "A Lingerie Maker Returns To Its Racier Past". New York Times. United States. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  103. ^ Wedlan, Candace A. (August 11, 2000). "The Pillar of Panties". Los Angeles Times. United States. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  104. ^ a b Marvin Traub; Lisa Marsh (September 15, 2008). Marvin Traub: Like No Other Career. Assouline Publishing Corporation. pp. 145–173. ISBN 978-2-7594-0272-4. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  105. ^ a b c d Eaton, Dan (May 19, 2016). "L Brands sees China as second 'home market' as it takes control of its stores". Columbus Business First. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  106. ^ Holmes, Elizabeth (March 29, 2010). "U.S. Apparel Retailers Map an Expansion to the North". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  107. ^ Kelsey, Sarah (May 3, 2012). "Victoria's Secret To Open First Quebec Store". The Huffington Post Canada. Canada. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  108. ^ Dunham, Jackie (May 21, 2020). "Victoria's Secret closing 250 stores". CTV News. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  109. ^ Lidbury, Olivia (May 21, 2012). "Victoria's Secret set date for UK debut". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on June 16, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  110. ^ Karmali, Sarah (August 28, 2012). "Secret No More". Vogue UK. United Kingdom. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  111. ^ "Victoria's Secret UK arm goes into administration". The Jakarta Post. June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  112. ^ Howland, Daphne (June 8, 2020). "What's Victoria's Secret's next move?". Retail Dive. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  113. ^ "Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Nike, Microsoft and retail pain". Reuters. June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  114. ^ Ell, Kellie (June 25, 2020). "Victoria's Secret Closes Hong Kong Flagship". WWD. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  115. ^ "Victoria's Secret closes its flagship store in Causeway Bay". Time Out Hong Kong. June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  116. ^ "Victoria's Secret & Co. Announces Partnership With Regina Miracle International (Holdings) Limited for Existing Business in China | Victoria's Secret & Co". www.victoriassecretandco.com. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  117. ^ Sugarman, Joseph (2012). "Lingerie for Men". The Adweek Copywriting Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Powerful Advertising and Marketing Copy. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118428795.
  118. ^ Marianne M. Jennings (December 13, 2010). Business: Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment. Cengage Learning. pp. 510–. ISBN 978-0-538-47054-4. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  119. ^ Monllos, Kristina (May 24, 2016). "Why Victoria's Secret Won't Be Mailing Out Any More Catalogs". adwekk. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  120. ^ a b Ohlson, Kathleen (February 5, 1999). "Victoria's Secret knows ads, but not the Web". CNN. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  121. ^ "Web Tempest in A D-Cup". Wired. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  122. ^ a b "Secret maneuver". Chicago Tribune. December 8, 1998. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  123. ^ Born, Pete (March 31, 2006). "Granoff Exiting Victoria's Secret Beauty". WWD. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  124. ^ "Victoria's Secret snags Polo Ralph Lauren exec". Crain's New York Business. October 9, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  125. ^ Rimmer, John (September 21, 2004). "World Duty Free secures exclusive deal with Victoria's Secret Beauty". DFNI. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  126. ^ Jannarone, John (October 20, 2011). "Victoria's Overseas Secret Remains Behind Closed Doors". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  127. ^ "Victoria's Secret Opens Its First Store In Schiphol Airport Lounge 3". Design Curial. June 14, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  128. ^ Mezzasalma, Nicole (November 13, 2012). "Victoria's Secret opens second Schiphol store". DFNI Online. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  129. ^ Kraul, Chris (August 7, 2012). "Optimism in Colombia Textiles". Women's Wear Daily (WWD).
  130. ^ Trujillo, Daniel (May 29, 2012). "Roble inicia cambios en Multiplaza y Metrocentro". El Mundo. Archived from the original on October 28, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  131. ^ Sieczkowski, Cavan (November 17, 2011). "Victoria's Secret Puerto Rico Grand Opening Touched by Angels". International Business Times. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  132. ^ "Agora Mall abre el 23 de Agosto 2012". ElMundoFemenino. August 9, 2012. Archived from the original on August 23, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  133. ^ "Sambil | Inicia comercializacion de Sambil Santo Domingo". Tusambil.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  134. ^ "Victoria's Secret Beauty & Accessories | Złote Tarasy". Zlotetarasy.pl. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  135. ^ "Аеродром Никола Тесла". Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  136. ^ Workman, Nancy. "From Victorian to Victoria's Secret: The Foundations of Modern Erotic Wear". Journal of Popular Culture; Fall96, Vol. 30 Issue 2, p61-73, 13p. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  137. ^ a b c d e f Sanders, Tim (July 22, 2003). Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends. Random House Digital, Inc. pp. 34–37. ISBN 978-1-4000-4683-6. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  138. ^ Howland, Daphne; Vembar, Kaarin (March 10, 2020). "Un-Limited: How Les Wexner ruled retail for 6 decades". Retail Dive. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  139. ^ a b "'All or nothing' for Victoria's Secret brand". Toronto Star. July 10, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  140. ^ "Limited Sells Majority Stake in Namesake Brand". New York Times. July 10, 2007. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  141. ^ "Limited Brands changes its name to L Brands". Reuters. March 22, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  142. ^ a b "Net sales of Victoria's Secret worldwide 2010-2017 | Statistic".
  143. ^ "People". Los Angeles Times. January 9, 1991. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  144. ^ Moin, David (January 30, 2007). "Nichols Exits as Victoria's Secret CEO". WWD. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  145. ^ Goldsmith, Suzanne. "Is it #TimesUp for Victoria's Secret?". Columbus Monthly. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  146. ^ Parmar, Hema (November 14, 2018). "Head of Victoria's Secret Lingerie resigns". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  147. ^ Robert, Yola. "Victoria's Secret Replaces CEO Amid The ThirdLove New York Times Ad". Forbes. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  148. ^ "L Brands names a new chief to lead Victoria's Secret, as it works to revive the lingerie brand". CNBC. November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  149. ^ "Burns Exiting Victoria's Secret, CEO Nixes Contract Extension". WWD. August 3, 2004. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  150. ^ a b c d Acker, Suzanne Gravette (November 2004). "From the Archives: The Man Behind the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show". Columbus Monthly. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  151. ^ Naughton, Julie (April 3, 2009). "Victoria's Secret Beauty Takes Cue From 'Project'". Women's Wear Daily (WWD). Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  152. ^ Silva, Belisa (October 10, 2012). "Susie Coulter to Take Helm at Victoria's Secret Beauty". Women's Wear Daily (WWD). Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  153. ^ "L Brands announces new hires for Victoria's Secret". Fashion Network. May 23, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  154. ^ Bullock, Max (October 4, 2006). "Fans of offshoring drift away from economic reality". Financial Times. Nikkei. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  155. ^ Tasini, Jonathan (May 25, 2011). "Victoria's Secret, Slave Labor And So-Called "Free Trade"". Huffington Post. Workers are allowed just 3.3 minutes to sew each $14 Victoria's Secret women's bikini, for which they are paid four cents. The workers' wages amount to less than 3/10ths of one percent of the $14 retail price of the Victoria's Secret bikini
  156. ^ Ramakrishnan, L (July 4, 2012). "A new direction". The Indian Express.
  157. ^ Bhalla, Nita (May 22, 2012). "Victoria's Secret bras a boost for rural Indian women". Reuters.
  158. ^ "Victoria's Secret pays sacked Thai workers $8.3m in 'wage theft' settlement". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse in Bangkok. May 28, 2022.
  159. ^ Chipello, Christopher J; Merrick, Amy (October 14, 2004). "As the Catalogs Pile Up, Environmental Activists Take on Attractive Target". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  160. ^ Merrick, Amy (December 7, 2006). "Victoria's Secret Goes Green On Paper for Catalogs". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  161. ^ "Victoria's Secret catalogue no longer in pulp friction". CBC News. December 6, 2006. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  162. ^ DuBrin, Andrew J. (2012). Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills. Cengage Learning. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-133-43522-8.
  163. ^ a b Okun, Alanna (August 31, 2012). "The 35-Year Evolution Of Victoria's Secret". BuzzFeed. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  164. ^ Dougherty, Philip H. (June 9, 1988). "Advertising; Victoria's Secret Goes To FCB/Leber Katz". New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  165. ^ Leonard M. Lodish; Howard L. Morgan; Shellye Archambeau (March 21, 2007). Marketing That Works: How Entrepreneurial Marketing Can Add Sustainable Value to Any Sized Company. Pearson Education. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-13-271632-1. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  166. ^ "Yasmeen Ghauri". nymag.com. New York Media. Archived from the original on January 22, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  167. ^ "Victoria's Secret "Old School" Models (March 2006 - July 2013) - the Fashion Spot". Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  168. ^ a b Holmes, Elizabeth (November 29, 2011). "Heard & Scene: Show Time on Victoria's Runway". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  169. ^ Goldman, Abigail (February 3, 1999). "Victoria's Secret Ad a Hit for Web Site". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  170. ^ a b Savage, David (March 5, 2003). "Court says Victor's Secret safe – Lingerie giant fails to sway justices". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 29, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  171. ^ a b Stevenson, Seth (April 12, 2004). "Tangled Up in Boobs – What's Bob Dylan doing in a Victoria's Secret ad?". Slate. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  172. ^ a b c Davies, Hugh (April 6, 2004). "Hey, Mr Lingerie Man . . ". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  173. ^ a b Smith, Lynn (April 13, 2004). "Lingerie is back in the drawer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  174. ^ Rivera, Isabell (March 12, 2020). "Victoria's 'Dirty Secret'". Our Weekly Los Angeles. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  175. ^ "Why Is Michael Bay Still Directing Victoria's Secret Commercials?". BuzzFeed. October 16, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  176. ^ Peterson, Hayley (October 31, 2014). "Victoria's Secret Sparks Outrage With 'Perfect Body' Campaign". Business Insider. Business Insider Inc. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  177. ^ a b Fernandez, Chantal (December 3, 2020). "Victoria's Secret Hires Condé Nast Creative Director Raul Martinez". The Business of Fashion. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  178. ^ Bernd Schmitt; David L. Rogers; Karen Vrotsos (2004). There's No Business That's Not Show Business: Marketing in an Experience Culture. FT Press. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-13-047119-2. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  179. ^ Givhan, Robin (March 19, 2012). "The Evolution Of The Bra, From Mad Men's Day To Our Own". Newsweek. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  180. ^ "It's No Secret: A Bust-See Web Site". Newsweek. February 15, 1999. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  181. ^ "Flood of Viewers Jams Lingerie Webcast". Los Angeles Times. February 5, 1999. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  182. ^ Quick, Rebecca (February 5, 1999). "Victoria's Secret Has Lesson for the Web: Lingerie Exerts Pull—'Cybercast' of Underwear Was Such a Smash That Many Were Left Out in Cold". Wall Street Journal.
  183. ^ Monget, Karyn (November 8, 2011). "A Look Behind The Curtain". Women's Wear Daily (WWD). Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  184. ^ Hanbury, Mary (July 20, 2021). "Victoria's Secret will relaunch its annual fashion show — without its Angels". Business Insider.
  185. ^ Contino, Kristin (May 15, 2024). "Victoria's Secret is bringing its controversial fashion show back to the runway". PageSix.
  186. ^ Ellis, Lucy; Sutherland, Byrony (2009). Tom Jones: Close Up. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857121073.
  187. ^ a b Opelka, Brenna; Boan, Daniel (May 10, 2019). "There's a huge difference between a Victoria's Secret model and an Angel — here's what it takes to get Angel status". Insider. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  188. ^ a b c Victoria's Secret Special, E!TV, 1998
  189. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Boan, Daniel (November 29, 2018). "THEN AND NOW: What 25 former Victoria's Secret Angels are doing today". Insider. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  190. ^ Todd, Anne M. (2009). Tyra Banks: Model and Talk Show Host. New York: Infobase Publishing. pp. 8–9. ISBN 9781438128306.
  191. ^ Krause, Amanda (May 10, 2019). "19 iconic moments from the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which may be ending as we know it". Insider. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  192. ^ "The Models of Victoria's Secret". People. 1998. Archived from the original on October 30, 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2007.
  193. ^ "Victoria's Secret Angels :: The Hollywood Walk of Fame". hwof.com. February 24, 2023.
  194. ^ CRITCHELL, SAMANTHA. "Victoria's Secret models bare all - StAugustine.com". staugustine.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014.
  195. ^ "Victoria's Secret looking for new 'Angel'". United Press International. September 25, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  196. ^ Eggenberger, Nicole (May 14, 2013). "Kylie Bisutti Responds to Victoria's Secret Slam: "Truth Is in the Book"". US Weekly. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  197. ^ "Victorias Secret Show London 2014 Pictures and Report (Vogue.co.uk)". Vogue UK. Condé Nast.
  198. ^ Bailey, Alyssa (February 23, 2015). "Karlie Kloss and Doutzen Kroes Are Leaving Victoria's Secret". elle. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  199. ^ "Victoria's Secret Summer Bombshell Tour". Entertainment Affair. June 10, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  200. ^ Peiffer, Kim (February 27, 2012). "Victoria's Secret Model Visiting Mag Mile Store". NBC Chicago. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  201. ^ Asinof, Lynn (April 16, 1987). "Mail-Order Catalog". Wall Street Journal. United States. Dow Jones & Company Inc.
  202. ^ McKinley, Hannah Weil (June 18, 2013). "Angel Invasion! Find Out Where the VS Swim Tour Is Headed". POPSUGAR Fashion. Archived from the original on June 23, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  203. ^ a b c Toomey, Alyssa (April 28, 2015). "Heavenly News! 2015 Victoria's Secret Angels Announced: Martha Hunt, Stella Maxwell and More!". eonline.com. E!. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  204. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Scarlett Kilcooley-O'Halloran (April 28, 2015). "Victoria's Secret Announces 10 New Angels". vogue.co.uk. Vogue UK. Condé Nast. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  205. ^ a b Newis-Smith, Josh (March 21, 2019). "'This is for my bullies!' We exclusively meet Victoria's Secret's first red-haired angel, Alexina Graham". Glamour Magazine.
  206. ^ a b "Barbara Palvin is the Newest Victoria's Secret Angel". Harper's Bazaar. March 14, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  207. ^ a b "Leomie Anderson announced as newest Victoria's Secret Angel". AOL. April 4, 2019.
  208. ^ a b Rutherford, Chrissy (April 10, 2019). "Exclusive: Grace Elizabeth Is Now a Victoria's Secret Angel". Harper's Bazaar.
  209. ^ "The complete list of every Victoria's Secret Angel ever". Vogue Australia. February 22, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  210. ^ Palmeri, Christopher (August 24, 1998). "Forbes Thought Of The Day". Forbes.
  211. ^ "Victoria's Secret Angel Ana Beatriz Barros Marries In Valentino". Harper's BAZAAR Arabia. July 11, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  212. ^ "PHOTOS: Who Is Bregje Heinen?". Huffington Post. July 31, 2012.
  213. ^ "Taylor Momsen Joins Victoria's Secret to Launch Love Rocks". PEOPLE.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013.
  214. ^ "Victoria's Secret Swaps Angels for 'What Women Want.' Will They Buy It?". The New York Times. 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  215. ^ "Which Countries Are All 295 Victoria's Secret Models From?". Huffington Post. March 14, 2014.
  216. ^ "Helena Christensen's Career Highlights". New York. October 17, 2012. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  217. ^ "Karen Mulder's Career Highlights". New York. October 17, 2012. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  218. ^ "Daniela Pestova's Career Highlights". New York. October 17, 2012. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  219. ^ "CBS Specials: Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2005". CBS. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  220. ^ "Adriana Lima's Career Highlights". New York. October 17, 2012. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  221. ^ Moraski, Lauren (October 3, 2012). "Rihanna, Justin Bieber to play Victoria's Secret Fashion Show". CBS News. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  222. ^ Talarico, Brittany (November 21, 2017). "Alessandra Ambrosio Confirms the Rumors She's Leaving Victoria's Secret". People Magazine. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  223. ^ Streib, Lauren (May 27, 2009). "The World's Top-Earning Models". Forbes. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  224. ^ Moss, Hilary (November 11, 2011). "Marisa Miller Splits". The Huffington Post.
  225. ^ Critchell, Samantha (November 20, 2009). "Heidi Klum wows crowd at Victoria's Secret show". Associated Press. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  226. ^ Bertoni, Steven; Blankfeld, Keren (May 13, 2010). "World's Top-Earning Models". Forbes.
  227. ^ "Doutzen Kroes has left Victoria's Secret". Vogue. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  228. ^ "Instagram post". Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  229. ^ Krause, Lucy Yang, Amanda. "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show as we know it may be ending. Here's what every Angel wore in her first fashion show for the brand". Insider. Retrieved June 20, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  230. ^ Rosie Huntington's Career Highlights Archived October 31, 2022, at the Wayback Machine. nymag.com. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  231. ^ "Chanel Iman's Career Highlights". New York. October 17, 2012. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  232. ^ "Lily Aldridge". Tatler. Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  233. ^ "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show: Three Newest "Angels" Stretch Their Wings on the Runway". CBS News. November 30, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  234. ^ "Karlie Kloss is a Victoria's Secret Angel". ElleUK. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  235. ^ "Karlie Kloss Is Leaving Victoria's Secret! (PEOPLE Exclusive)". People. Archived from the original on February 28, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  236. ^ a b "VS All Access - Get the Inside Scoop - Victoria's Secret". Victoria's Secret. Archived from the original on December 6, 2015.
  237. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Weinberg, Lindsay (June 17, 2021). "Victoria's Secret Officially Ends Its Angels Era for Brand Overhaul Led By Priyanka Chopra, Megan Rapinoe". Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  238. ^ Steff Yotka. "Victoria's Secret Names Josephine Skriver an Angel". Vogue. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  239. ^ "Victoria's Secret Targets College Women". NBC News. July 29, 2004. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  240. ^ "Miranda Kerr Launches Victoria's Secret New Pink Bdy Organic and Natural Body Care Collection". Zimbio.com. March 10, 2009. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012.
  241. ^ Barnett, Leisa (May 27, 2008). "Victoria's Pick". Vogue. UK. Condé Nast. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
  242. ^ Kaunitz, Kate (March 15, 2010). "Behati Prinsloo Opens PINK". Fashionista. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  243. ^ Lewis, Casey (November 3, 2012). "Supermodel Elsa Hosk on Her Favorite Sports, Style Essentials, and Advice For Breaking Into The Business". Teen Vogue. United States. Condé Nast.
  244. ^ "Rachel Hilbert Is the New Face of Victoria's Secret Pink—See the Pics!". United States: E! Online. June 10, 2015.
  245. ^ Scharf, Lindzi (August 24, 2016). "Victoria's Secret's Newest Model, Zuri Tibby, Was Discovered at a Mall". United States: Yahoo! Style.
  246. ^ Rutherford, Chrissy (April 10, 2019). "Exclusive: Grace Elizabeth Is Now a Victoria's Secret Angel". Harper's BAZAAR. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  247. ^ "2019 Model Alliance Press". Model Alliance. 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  248. ^ Feitelberg, Rosemary (October 2, 2018). "California Lawmakers Pass Talent Protections Act to Help Models and Entertainers Fight Sexual Harassment and Eating Disorders". Women's Wear Daily. Archived from the original on February 23, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  249. ^ Stewart, James B. (February 3, 2020). "A Top L Brands Executive Complained of Harassment. Then She Was Locked Out". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  250. ^ Stewart, James B (February 3, 2020). "A Top L Brands Executive Complained of Harassment. Then She Was Locked Out". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  251. ^ "Jeffrey Epstein's Upper East Side Townhouse Has Sold for $51 Million". Town & Country. 2021-03-17. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  252. ^ McCreesh, Shawn (2022-06-29). "How Leslie Wexner Helped Create Jeffrey Epstein". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  253. ^ "EEOC Sues Retailer Victoria's Secret". Los Angeles Times. August 14, 2002. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  254. ^ "VICTORIA'S SECRET SUED BY EEOC FOR RACIAL, RELIGIOUS BIAS EEOC v. Victoria's Secret Stores | Secondary Sources | Westlaw". content.next.westlaw.com.
  255. ^ Chapman, Bridget (June 7, 2018). "Woman says she was racially profiled at Victoria's Secret in Collierville". WREG News Memphis.
  256. ^ Bell, June (July 14, 2017). "Victoria's Secret to Pay $12 Million to California On-Call Workers". SHRM. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  257. ^ Dreiband, Eric (2003). "Office of General Counsel Fiscal Year 2003 Annual Report". EEOC.gov/. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2020. In EEOC v. Victoria's Secret Stores, Inc., the EEOC alleged that defendant, subjected charging party," ". . . to a hostile working environment because of her race and religion (Baptist) and failed to accommodate her need to attend religious services." "As a result of the hostile working environment, charging party quit her job. The case was resolved through a consent decree which provides for payment of $179,300 to charging party.
  258. ^ a b Strahan, E.J.; Lafrance, A.; Wilson, A.E.; Ethier, N.; Spencer, S.J.; Zanna, M.P. (2008). "Victoria's dirty secret: How sociocultural norms influence adolescent girls and women". Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 34 (2): 288–301. doi:10.1177/0146167207310457. PMID 18212336. S2CID 1457893.
  259. ^ Matera, Avery (November 7, 2018). "5 Times Victoria's Secret Was Accused of Cultural Appropriation". Teen Vogue.
  260. ^ Alexander, Ella (August 2, 2012). "Angels Are Go". Vogue. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  261. ^ "Victoria's Secret 'Sexy Little Geisha' Outfit Sparks Backlash". The Huffington Post. September 24, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  262. ^ Sauers, Jenna (September 26, 2012). "And Here We Have a 'Sexy Little Geisha' Outfit From Victoria's Secret". Jezebel. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  263. ^ Yang, Jeff (September 17, 2012). "Why the Rise of Asia In Fashion Isn't As Beautiful As It Seems". Wall Street Journal. No. SpeakEasy. United States. Dow Jones & Company Inc. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  264. ^ Alexander, Ella (September 25, 2012). "Victoria's Secret Geisha Outfit Faces Criticism". Vogue. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  265. ^ Hall, John (November 13, 2012). "Victoria's Secret Apologizes for Offense Caused by Using Native American Headdress on Model Wearing High Heels and Leopard Print Underwear". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  266. ^ Matera, Avery (December 1, 2016). "Some Chinese Viewers Are REALLY Upset About the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show". Teen Vogue. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  267. ^ Heller, Susanna (November 27, 2017). "Every time Victoria's Secret has been accused of cultural appropriation in its annual fashion show". Insider. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  268. ^ Nazim, Hafeezah (November 21, 2017). "Victoria's Secret Still Hasn't Learned That Cultural Appropriation Is Wrong". Nylon. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  269. ^ ""We're Nobody's Third Love, We're Their First Love"—The Architects of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Are Still Banking on Bombshells". Vogue. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  270. ^ a b "Victoria's Secret Faces Backlash After Exec's Comments About Trans and Plus-Size Models". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  271. ^ "Valentina Sampaio Becomes First Transgender Model for Victoria's Secret". Georgia Voice. August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  272. ^ "Victoria's Secret CMO Ed Razek quits days after first trans model is hired". Retail Gazette. August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  273. ^ "Meet Emira D'spain, The First Black Transgender Model To Work With Victoria's Secret". Nylon. March 7, 2022.
  274. ^ "Alex Consani Insider View of The Tour '23 set". September 6, 2023.
[edit]