Founded in 1977 by Roy Raymond, the company sells its lingerie through its catalogs and physical stores. It is the largest American retailer of lingerie and apparel for women. Its bras are the most popular product with approximately two million sold per year. The company also sells other intimate apparel and beauty products. The company has a total of 844 retail locations. Its headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.
Almost everyone has heard of the Victoria’s Secret brand and most people know what it stands for. The lingerie giant has become an icon for female self-love, body positivity and empowerment. While the company has been facing some challenges lately, it has been working hard to reinvent itself and appeal to a more diverse audience. The new VS campaign is an important step in that direction.
The first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show took place in 1995, when the lingerie store was just beginning to grow into its current incarnation. The show was, at its height, a sex-charged spectacle of models clad in tiny bits of lace and satin, strutting down the runway while being cheered on by men. It was a time when the model of choice for every 14-year-old girl was Christy Turlington or Gisele Bundchen, bombshells who walked down the runway in lingerie that could have easily been worn by a high schooler.
As the years passed, the Victoria’s Secret brand grew even more famous thanks to the annual fashion shows, which were streamed and televised to millions of viewers around the world, and high-concept, high-budget commercials directed by Michael Bay. The brand was a mainstay of the national and international culture, with supermodels like Stephanie Seymour and Heidi Klum getting their start as Angels. The company’s famous Fantasy bra was a showstopper each year, and fans were eager to see which angel would be chosen to wear the piece adorned with jewels and a thong.
Then came the 2010s. The #MeToo movement and calls for increased representational inclusivity (including body size, race and ethnicity, and gender) changed the game. More overtly inclusive lingerie brands like ThirdLove and Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty began to chip away at Victoria’s Secret’s market share, and the company was forced to revamp its playbook.
The VS of the future is less a palace of pink dreams and more of a symbol for feminine strength and invincible self-love. And to reach that goal, the company has been hiring a group of young, diverse women—like corset engineer Michaela Stark and plus-size siren Candice Huffine—to serve as the faces of the brand. It’s a bold move that, if successful, may have the potential to turn the company around.