Victoria’s Secret, the lingerie and clothing retailer, is trying to reverse years of bad PR. It’s promoting fuller-figure women in ads and on store mannequins. It’s expanding into mastectomy bras and comfy sports bras. And it’s changing up its sexy image with ads featuring diverse models and a new “world tour” video. These changes are aimed at reversing the company’s supercharged sexy image, which made it irrelevant to many women and led to several years of sales declines.
Victoria’s Secret was founded in 1977 in San Francisco by Stanford graduate students Roy and Gaye Raymond, who were looking for a way to market their handmade lingerie and gift items. Soon the company was shipping its first catalog to customers nationwide and had a few dozen stores. By 1982, it was a $7.5 million operation with a huge mailing list and booming sales. It was bought by Les Wexner of Bath & Body Works, Inc., the parent company of L Brands, in 1982.
During Wexner’s nine-year tenure as CEO, the company thrived. Its annual fashion show featured supermodels like Naomi Campbell strutting the runway in Swarovski-crystal covered wings and thongs, and its Angels were known for their sexy beauty and youthful allure. But as societal norms evolved and more on-trend upstarts emerged, Victoria’s Secret started to lose ground.
In the 1990s, Victoria’s Secret’s leaders realized that the sexy model image had become outdated and that they needed to change. To do so, they enlisted the help of a creative director named Ed Razek. Under his watch, the company shifted from its hyper-sexualized image to a more mature and sophisticated image. He was credited with bringing Victoria’s Secret to the next level, and the company’s revenue grew by 74% during his tenure.
The success of the transformation was short-lived. Despite the positive reviews from critics, sales began to dwindle. The company was losing out to more on-trend upstarts, such as Savage X Fenty and Parade, and in the past two years alone, Victoria’s Secret saw revenues fall by 5%.
But now it looks as though the company has finally listened to consumers’ demands and is making significant changes. It has dropped the Angels in favor of more diverse spokesmodels, including soccer player Megan Rapinoe and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. It has stopped airing the fashion show in favor of a new documentary-style event that highlights designers from around the world who are celebrating different body shapes. And it’s focusing on bringing back swimwear and activewear, products the company exited in recent years to focus on lingerie and Pink. These moves are part of a larger strategy that includes a renewed emphasis on diversity and inclusivity, which is a major priority for the company’s parent company, L Brands. It’s a bold move for a brand that has long been associated with “hooker looks.” But in order to compete in this new era of retail, Victoria’s Secret will have to do more than simply tweak its marketing campaign.