44 Facts About Victoria's Secret

1.

Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels.

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2.

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.

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3.

From 1995 through 2018, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was an essential part of the brand's image featuring an annual runway spectacle of models promoted by the company as fantasy Angels.

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4.

In 2002 Victoria's Secret announced the launch of PINK, a brand that was aimed to appeal to teenagers.

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5.

Victoria's Secret canceled the circulation of their famous catalog in 2016.

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6.

Victoria's Secret was founded by Roy Raymond, and his wife, Gaye Raymond, on June 12,1977.

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7.

Victoria's Secret grossed $500,000 in its first year of business, enough to finance the expansion from a headquarters and warehouse to four new store locations and a mail-order operation.

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8.

In 1982, Victoria's Secret had grown to five stores, a 40-page catalog, and was grossing $6 million annually.

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9.

In October of that year, the Los Angeles Times reported that Victoria's Secret was stealing market share from department stores; in 1986, Victoria's Secret was the only national chain devoted to lingerie.

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10.

Victoria's Secret experienced quality problems with their product in the early 1990s and was working to resolve the issues.

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11.

Victoria's Secret expanded beyond apparel in the 1990s with the launch of their own line of fragrances in 1991, followed by their entrance into the billion dollar cosmetics market in 1998.

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12.

Victoria's Secret introduced the 'Miracle Bra' in 1993, selling two million within the first year.

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13.

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.

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14.

Victoria's Secret discontinued its use of a print catalog and dropped certain categories of clothing such as swimwear.

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15.

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.

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16.

In July of 2022 Victoria's Secret named Amy Hauk chief executive of both the Victoria's Secret and Pink brands.

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17.

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

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18.

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.

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19.

Victoria's Secret opened a store at the Westfield Shopping Centre, Stratford, London in July 2012.

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20.

On January 25,2022, Victoria's Secret announced a Joint venture partnership agreement with Regina Miracle International Limited.

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21.

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.

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22.

Victoria's Secret was known for accepting phone orders at any hour which helped it establish dominance of the lingerie market.

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23.

Victoria's Secret spent three years building an e-commerce website that was officially launched on December 4,1998.

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24.

Victoria's Secret sought to expand its beauty and accessories stores at airports around the world in the early 2010s.

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25.

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

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26.

Victoria's Secret Stores was helmed by Lori Greely from 2007 until 2013.

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27.

Victoria's Secret was succeeded in May 2000 by Sharen Jester Turney as chief executive of the division.

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28.

In 2006, the Financial Times reported that Victoria's Secret paid factory workers $7 per day to make bras in Thailand.

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29.

In 2012, Victoria's Secret was manufacturing bras in the South Indian city of Guduvanchery.

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30.

Victoria's Secret bought organic and fair trade-grown cotton to make some of its panties in 2012.

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31.

Victoria's Secret used the insert to announce their expansion into the toiletries and fragrance business.

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32.

Victoria's Secret gained notoriety in the early 1990s after it began to hire supermodels for its advertising and fashion shows.

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33.

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was a major marketing tool used by L Brands from 1995 to 2018.

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34.

Victoria's Secret sued a strip-mall store in Elizabethtown, Kentucky called Victor's Little Secret over the issue of trademark dilution.

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35.

In 2004, following the Super Bowl halftime show controversy over indecent exposure on broadcast television, Victoria's Secret sent their models out on an Angels Across America Tour.

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36.

Victoria's Secret presented an uncharacteristic advertisement with Bob Dylan as an alternative means of promoting the brand.

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37.

Victoria's Secret announced the appointment of Raul Martinez as head creative director in December 2020.

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38.

The next spring Victoria's Secret avoided technical issues by partnering with Broadcast.

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39.

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.

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40.

Victoria's Secret brand has had at least 3 dozen official Angels Other notable spokesmodels for the brand have included Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigova, Oluchi Onweagba, Jessica Stam, Ana Beatriz Barros, and Bregje Heinen, as well as celebrities such as Taylor Momsen.

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41.

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, and a $179,300 settlement with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

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42.

At the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, an outfit in the 'Calendar Girls' segment caused controversy.

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43.

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.

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44.

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.

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