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VICTORIA'S SECRET - BRAND HISTORY

Victoria's Secret is one of the world's most renowned companies selling women's underwear, swimwear, apparel, cosmetics, perfumes and accessories. Located in Columbus, Ohio, USA.

Victoria's Secret was founded by Roy Raymond in San Francisco, California on June 12, 1977. But this story began earlier, eight years before the opening of the first store. In the late 1960s, Roy Raymond wanted to give his wife a present and went to a regular department store to buy a set of underwear for her. He was completely lost in the incomprehensible "world of female accessories." Sellers trained to serve women were unable to help him make a purchase. So Roy left empty-handed, but with a revolutionary idea.

At the time of Raymond's founding of Victoria's Secret, most women in America bought “boring” and “pragmatic” underwear in packs of three from department stores and kept “more interesting items” for special occasions like honeymoons.

In 1977, Raymond borrowed $ 40,000 from his parents and took another $ 40,000 on credit to create Victoria's Secret, a store where men could feel comfortable shopping for lingerie. The company's first store was located in a shopping center in Palo Alto, California. Victoria's Secret earned $ 500,000 in its first year.

Another innovation is mailing directories. For those for whom shyness or other reasons were not allowed to come to the store for sexy lingerie, Raymond came up with another mechanism for selling - it was possible to purchase selected models “without leaving home”. This approach has become a real revolution in the sales of lingerie, not only in America, but all over the world.

In April 1982, Victoria's Secret sent out its 12th catalog. Each catalog cost $ 3. By the way, directory sales accounted for 55% of the company's $ 7 million in annual sales in 1982.

Despite the company's success, in 1982, Roy Raymond was forced to sell the company and the Victoria's Secret brand due to financial difficulties.

Raymond sold to Victoria's Secret Inc. Leslie Wexner, founder of Limited Stores Inc. from Columbus, Ohio for $ 1 million.

In 1983, Wexner revamped the Victoria's Secret sales model. He abandoned the unprofitable model of selling lingerie for male customers and replaced it with a model aimed at women. "New colors, models and styles that promised sexuality, packed with taste, glamor and the snobbery of European luxury." To promote this look, the Victoria's Secret catalog continued the practice started by Raymond: catalogs featured a fake address for Victoria's Secret headquarters in London. This was supposed to give the company even more European chic. The shops have also been reimagined to evoke associations with 19th century England.

The New York Times reported a rapid expansion of Victoria's Secret, from four stores in 1982 to one hundred stores in 1986, and analysts expected the chain to grow to 400 by 1988.

In 1985, Howard Gross took over as president of the company.

By the early 1990s, Victoria's Secret was facing difficulties in running the business. This resulted in the company suffering from constant quality problems.

Howard Gross was forced to step down as president of the company and was succeeded by Grace Nichols, who has been president and CEO since 1992. Its main goal was to work on improving the quality of products. The company began to increase its investment in the production process, due to which profits began to fall.

In 1992, Victoria's Secret launched her own line of fragrances.

After the sale of Victoria's Secret, founder Roy Raymond tried to open a children's clothing store. However, this idea was not crowned with success and he soon went bankrupt. On August 26, 1993, Roy committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge near San Francisco.

By 1998, Victoria's Secret had a 14% share of the US lingerie market. In the same year, the company entered the cosmetic market.

Victoria's Secret Angels are the most famous models that represent the company's products. The angels made their debut during the fourth annual Victoria's Secret fashion show in 1998. The first "angels" were Tyra Banks, Helena Christensen, Karen Mulder, Stephanie Seymour and Daniela Peshtova.

In May 2000, Leslie Wexner appointed Sharen Jester Thurney, formerly of Neiman Marcus Direct, as the new CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct to revitalize underwear catalog sales that were lagging behind other divisions.

By 2006, 1,000 Victoria's Secret stores in the United States accounted for a third of all purchases in the lingerie industry. In May 2006, Leslie Wexner decided to entrust Sharen Jester Turney with running the entire Victoria's Secret business, not just the catalogs and online sales divisions.

On November 13, 2007, Victoria's Secret Angels were named stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.