Victoria’s Secret

Roy Raymond, a Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus, opened the first Victoria's Secret store in June 1977 at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California. He wanted to create a comfortable space for men to buy lingerie for their partners. The name evoked Victorian refinement with a hint of hidden allure. By 1982, Raymond had six stores and a mail-order catalog, but the business was struggling financially. Les Wexner, founder of The Limited, bought the chain for about $1 million.

Wexner reimagined the brand around fantasy and glamour. He expanded the catalog, opened hundreds of mall locations, and in 1995 launched the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. The annual event turned supermodels like Adriana Lima, Gisele Bündchen, and Alessandra Ambrosio into Angels, striding down runways in jeweled bras and towering wings. The show became a cultural spectacle, drawing millions of viewers. Product innovations like the Miracle Bra and the Body by Victoria line drove sales past $1 billion by the early 1990s. In 2002, the company introduced PINK, a sub-brand targeting younger shoppers with casual apparel and accessories.

The brand's dominance began to slide after 2016. Competition from inclusive brands like Savage X Fenty and Aerie eroded market share. The company stopped printing its catalog in 2016. Scandals involving Les Wexner's ties to Jeffrey Epstein and controversial comments by marketing chief Ed Razek about plus-size and transgender models further tarnished its image. In August 2021, Victoria's Secret was spun off from L Brands into an independent publicly traded company, Victoria's Secret & Co., listed on the NYSE as VSXY. As of 2024, the company operates roughly 1,070 stores in the U.S. and over 350 international locations, with annual revenue around $6.2 billion.[edit]