The resurrected Victoria’s Secret fashion show in October — its first in six years — included plenty of nods to the lingerie brand’s 1990s and 2000s heyday, as veteran models including Adriana Lima and Tyra Banks returned to its New York catwalk.
But the inclusion of plus-sized models such as Ashley Graham and transgender models including Valentina Sampaio, as well as the decision to livestream unedited footage on social media, was also an attempt to woo Gen Z and reverse years of flagging sales.
The US brand that built a multibillion-dollar empire on extravagant shows and a provocative image must now win over a younger generation of shoppers more interested in inclusivity, comfort and sustainability — a far cry from the brand’s “enduring association with high heels, big hair and overt sex appeal”, according to Olivia Kelly, fashion analyst at Kantar.
Although there was a long queue to enter the Victoria’s Secret Oxford Street boutique inside the Next department store during a busy pre-Christmas shopping weekend — spanning teenagers to women in their thirties, families and couples — customers were divided about the makeover.
Sarah, a 30-year-old accompanying a friend, said the brand “hasn’t really evolved” to contemporary standards of inclusivity.
The company’s annual sales hit a record $7.8bn in 2016, but by 2023 they had fallen to $6.2bn, as customers worldwide opted for more comfortable styles over racy underwear, a preference spurred by the pandemic.
The brand, which was spun off by former owner L Brands in 2021 after a deal to sell a majority stake to private equity firm Sycamore Partners fell through, has also suffered a number of controversies during those years.
It cancelled its annual fashion show in 2019 amid growing discontent over the lack of diversity among its models, as well as criticism levelled at some executives. Former chief marketing officer Ed Razek left the brand the same year, after apologising for “insensitive” comments about how transgender models did not fit in the “fantasy” of the fashion show.
Meanwhile, Les Wexner, the billionaire founder of L Brands, came under scrutiny for being a client of Jeffrey Epstein for decades, saying in 2019 he was “embarrassed” by his relationship with the late sex offender.
Victoria’s Secret was “talked about for the wrong reasons, not the right reasons”, said marketing analyst Catherine Shuttleworth. There was “no question that the brand took a hit”, she added.
Amid faltering sales the lingerie retailer scaled back its bricks and mortar presence, closing almost a quarter of its North American stores in 2020, the same year its UK and Ireland arm was rescued from administration, with high-street bellwether Next buying a 51 per cent stake.
The majority of the company’s 55 UK and Ireland stores are now found inside Next shops, and its boutique inside Next on Oxford Street is its sole remaining central London location after the closure of its flagship New Bond Street site in February last year. In the US, it has just under 800 stores, down from more than 1,000 in early 2020.
But the brand has shown evidence of a comeback recently, as it attempts to win over a new generation of customers.
The company poached Hillary Super, former head of Rihanna’s rival Savage X Fenty brand, as chief executive in 2024 — a move analysts at Jefferies said “could help ignite the turnaround story”.
Shares in the group, which had languished since its July 2021 listing in New York, rose following Super’s appointment, reaching a two-and-a-half-year high of $48.7 in mid-December. The share price had since fallen to $32.8 on Monday.
The peak came after the company raised its full-year guidance following a strong quarter that included the return of its catwalk show and Super’s appointment. Net sales in the three months to November 2 were up 6.5 per cent on a year earlier, and the group said it was expecting annual adjusted operating income of $315mn to $345mn, up from a previous range of $275mn to $300mn.
Super declined to be interviewed but said on an earnings call in December that “sales performance was well ahead of our expectations, and our best quarterly sales growth since 2021”.
“I think that the fashion show introduced us to a new generation of consumers,” Super added, pointing to social media engagement as well as the brand’s collaborations with pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
In response to the results, analysts at Jefferies said Victoria’s Secret was “on a path to recovery”, noting that its best-performing month was October — the month of the fashion show.
Shuttleworth highlighted the importance of social media to the brand’s attempts to connect to younger customers, explaining that “they’re going to have to meet [Gen Z] where they play”.
However, Kelly cautioned that sales growth was being driven by older millennials rather than Gen Z.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s Secret now faces higher competition than when it first launched, including from celebrity-founded brands such as Savage X Fenty, launched in 2018, and Kim Kardashian’s Skims. The latter has been valued at $4bn and is closely watched for signs it may list publicly.
Brands that have bet on inclusivity have also been rising in popularity, including Aerie, an American brand owned by retail group American Eagle Outfitters, whose net revenue was $1.7bn in the year to February 3 2024, more than double that of the same period in 2020.
In the UK, female-led brands such as Dora Larsen, Stripe & Stare and Fruity Booty have also emerged as smaller competitors. “It’s a busy, noisy market out there,” said Stripe & Stare co-founder Katie Lopes, whose comfort-oriented brand reported sales of £5.6mn in 2023, up almost a quarter from the previous year. “A lot of people have jumped in with the decline of Victoria’s Secret,” she added.
“They’ve got a brand that people talk about,” said Shuttleworth. “They just need to make sure people are talking about them for the right reasons.”
