Victoria's Secret's Rebrand Attempt

Victoria's Secret and a subsidiary of the brand, Pink, were once synonymous with undergarments. It was the go-to place for bras, underwear and a coveted swimsuit line that generated millions for the company and had a grip on American teens. Today, the brand struggles to survive, striving to rebrand its male gaze-centered and hyper-sexualized foundations. 

American businessman Roy Raymond felt uncomfortable shopping for lingerie for his wife. So, in 1977, he created Victoria’s Secret — a lingerie brand targeted at men to make them feel comfortable shopping for lingerie. According to Slate, the first store featured dark wood, elegant rugs and silk drapery. 

Even though the brand was expanding, Victoria's Secret was near bankruptcy. In 1982, Leslie Wexner, owner of retail company Limited Brands, acquired Victoria's Secret as his next business venture. He knew he could help save the brand by veering its target toward women. Neutral-colored garments shifted to bright, fun and flirty colors that women fell in love with. In the early ‘90s, Victoria's Secret became the largest lingerie retailer in the U.S. with 350 stores nationwide and sales topping $1 billion, according to Business Insider. 

It did not stop there. Wexner continued to grow Victoria’s Secret, debuting a popular swimwear line, clothing line and the “Victoria's Secret Angels” annual runway show. According to Business of Business, by 1995, Victoria’s Secret had 670 stores in the U.S. and $1.9 billion in sales. By 2014, it was one of the most popular apparel brands in the world. 

After the early 2000s, everything changed. Online shopping sent the mall-centered company on a downward spiral. With a foundation of marketing towards the male gaze and hypersexual identity, Victoria's Secret struggles to stay afloat in today’s body-positive era. “There’s been a real shift in how people, especially young women, think about beauty and desire,” says Kalinda Ukanwa, a marketing professor at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. “We’re in the age of #MeToo. Ideals are changing, and people want diversity and representation, ethnically and racially, but also in terms of shape and body type. For retailers to not adapt or evolve can be a fatal flaw,” says Ukanwa. 

In 2019, the brand discontinued its annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show due to controversial claims from former casting director, Ed Raneck, and overall cultural distaste for its promotion of unrealistic body standards. What had previously drawn millions of viewers dwindled to 3.7 million viewers in 2018, according to L’Officiel. 

As the cultural climate has shifted, inclusive brands such as Aerie and ThirdLove are dominating the lingerie market with marketing focused on showing women of all shapes and sizes. Long gone are the days of stiff push-up bras and sparkly thongs. Victoria's Secret’s failure to replace its leather-winged, stiletto-heeled angel archetype with a more appealing idea has fed the rise of this new generation of underwear brands.

Brands like body-positive Parade built their brand on positive values. This includes using recycled fabric, compostable packaging and donating a percentage of its profits to Planned Parenthood. Its models range in size and race and focus on displaying their natural beauty rather than a curated and perfected look. 

It's not only emerging names spearheading this lingerie revolution. Established brands like American Eagle subverted the conventional standards with their #AerieReal campaign, rejecting photoshop and using "real" people instead of models to showcase their intimate designs. Direct-to-consumer brand ThirdLove has also made inclusivity a priority, with size options ranging from 50 to 74. Like Parade, the brand counts on real people and influencers to help showcase its products.

In response to these challenges, Victoria's Secret has announced plans in recent years to rebrand and shift its marketing strategy. The company has pledged to focus on more diverse and inclusive branding and has brought on new executives with experience in this area. However, Victoria’s Secret’s pivot seems to have come too late. The non-inclusive identity is too ingrained into the DNA of the brand. Today, what's most important for women is that they feel comfortable and confident. Inclusivity is a priority and if your brand is uninterested in that, step aside because the body-positive movement will only continue to grow.