Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret is a retail marketer of women's clothing and beauty products, but is most recognizable as a marketer of lingerie. The company was founded in San Francisco, California, USA, in 1979 by Roy Raymond, who sold it in 1982 to The Limited Inc., and it is now owned by The Limited's successor company, Limited Brands. Since the takeover the company has been based in Columbus, Ohio, though it has at times sought to foster an image of being British. Raymond eventually committed suicide in 1993, jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.

Victoria's Secret had sales of more than dollar|US$" target="_blank" >^* 2.4 billion through their 900 retail stores in the United States in 2005. All stores of Limited Brands are corporately owned. Victoria's Secret products are also available through the catalog business, Victoria's Secret Direct, with sales of approximately US$870 million. The company gained notoriety in the 1990s after it began to use supermodels in their advertising and fashion shows; prominent supermodels featured by Victoria's Secret include Alessandra Ambrosio, Tyra Banks, Ana Beatriz Barros, Gisele Bündchen, Naomi Campbell, Laetitia Casta, Selita Ebanks, Isabeli Fontana, Izabel Goulart, Eva Herzigova, Bar Refaeli, Adriana Lima, Karolína Kurková, Petra Němcová, Frederique van der Wal, Heidi Klum,Veronica Varekova, Lindsay Frimodt, Tricia Helfer, and Fernanda Tavares. The "Victoria's Secret Angels" are the models with contracts to Victoria's Secret. Many other models appear in the catalog that appear as part of campaigns.

The company made history in 1999 with the first televised appearance of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. The web broadcast, one of the first mass market Internet programs, drew 1.5 million viewers, with many others unable to view the show. The fashion show was advertised on the Super Bowl. Annually, Victoria's Secret also stages a fashion show that is televised later in the year. The show is generally held in the New York Armory on Lexington Avenue, and attracts hundreds of celebrities and entertainers. In the past, most of the clothing exhibited was not available to the general public, but in 2005 the show was specifically redesigned to feature clothing available to the general public through the catalogue.

In July, 2004, company executives launched Victoria's Secret PINK, a lineup of loungewear, sleepwear, and intimate apparel geared towards college undergraduates. ^* Allessandra Ambrosio was named the spokesperson for Pink. Pink models tour the country at college campuses. The company markets to youth through MySpace, partnerships with MTV, and youth-oriented blogs. In 2006, Ashlee Simpson was named as the spokesmodel for Pink, making it the first time that a non-model is a spokesperson of any VS brand. Victoria's Secret is considering building individual Pink stores in the future to further differentiate the brand and compete with other youth clothing brands such as Wet Seal and Forever 21.

Trivia

Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica had a song called Victoria's Secret on their album Winterheart's Guild (2003). According to the band, the song title is a sort of inside-joke and was inspired by the lingerie company (though the lyrics of the song have nothing to do with women's underwear).

External links

Companies based in Ohio | Underwear brands Limited Brands

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See also

Trivia

External links