Victoria's Secret; trying to break their own mold?

Victoria's secret is multi billion dollar industry that creates lingerie, clothing, perfumes and cosmetics. This American based corporation is famous for scantily clad fashion shows and perpetuating the idea hat they know what "sexy" is and they will sell it to you, one overpriced bra-and-panty set at a time.

I will admit i think their line under garments is quite comfortable, and the materials and color are made to look eloquent. But cheap they are not. An average Victoria's secret bra cost anywhere upwards $45.00- $65.00 dollars a pop. A high price to pay for clothing mostly you and your mate will see. We know that price doesn't mater to consumers, as least not to VS shoppers. Victoria's secret boasts 3.22 billion revenues as of 2006, despite a recession. This is according to its parent company "Limited Brands" annual report (http://ww3.ics.adp.com,2009).

Since its California debut by entrepreneur Roy Raymond in 1977. Raymond, a Stanford grad, opened the first Victoria's Secret store after feeling embarrassed and awkward trying to purchase lingerie for his wife in public. It took just $80,000 to start the store and by the years end the baby company grossed over $500,000.

It wasn't until 1999 when the the company gained notoriety in the early 1990s after it began to use in supermodels its advertising and fashion shows. "Victoria's Secret Angels" are the brand's most visible models and spokeswomen. They've included such catwalk stars such as Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, Stephanie Seymour and Gisele Bundchen. These highly sexualized images such as the one above have been mailed to the homes of teens, made as pop ups on their screen and shown on commercials during their television programs. Victoria's secret inadvertently promotes a sexy image to girls that are in the eyes of many, too young to be "too sexy".

But this blog post isn't just about how Victoria's influence the masses, but how they plan on changing their appeal and influence. CEO Sharon Turney states in an CNN video from February 28,2008 that she realize just far off the track they have gotten.

"We've so much gotten off our heritage ... too sexy, and we use the word sexy a lot and really have forgotten the ultra feminine. ... I feel so strongly about us getting back to our heritage and really thinking in terms of ultra feminine and not just the word sexy and becoming much more relevant to our customer..."

This was almost 2 years ago. I have yet to see Sexy giant Victoria's secret make any strong head way but I will keep looking for them to break their own mold.