The one with angels in lingerie ...
As a kid, I used to steal glances when walking by Victoria’s Secret in the mall. I didn’t have a reason to shop there yet, and felt like I might get in trouble if I dared to step inside. The store held a sort of forbidden mystique that made it seem borderline scandalous to my young eyes.
Victoria’s Secret was widely regarded as the pinnacle of sexiness in the ‘90s and ‘00s. This place didn’t have your grandma’s sturdy brassieres designed for comfort and durability. Instead, it was all about pushing breasts sky-high and testing the limits of how little material could be used to make a pair of underwear.
The VS of my youth doesn’t exist anymore. The very thing that made Victoria’s Secret so popular — images of utterly unattainable, “perfect” supermodel bodies — eventually came back to bite it in the scantily clad ass.
But did you know …
1. Who’s Victoria, anyway?
She wasn’t real, and she didn’t have a secret. Founder Roy Raymond actually took the name from the Victorian era. In an effort to evoke a luxurious boudoir from that historic period, the first stores were decorated with silk drapes, antique armoires, velvet sofas, and dark wood. Raymond was going for a tasteful, respectable vibe with hints at the taboo or “secret” nature of undergarments.
2. As told by JT
Roy Raymond founded Victoria’s Secret in 1977, and surprisingly, his target customer wasn’t a woman. Instead, he marketed the brand to guys who wanted to feel more comfortable buying lingerie for their wives and girlfriends. Raymond knew the struggle firsthand — he had tried to buy sexy lingerie for his wife in department stores, but always felt out of place and unwelcome. To make matters worse, he didn’t find the options very appealing.
At the time, there wasn’t much available for lingerie between the provocative items at Frederick’s of Hollywood or basics like Jockey and Hanes. Raymond found a middle ground, making high-quality, sexy lingerie worn for more than just honeymoons and anniversaries. His impressive success story (and tragic end) was briefly recapped by Justin Timberlake in a scene from The Social Network.
3. 404 error: models not found
Beginning in 1995, Victoria’s Secret held an annual fashion show. Many a supermodel became cemented as a celebrity on the VS runway, including Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, and Gisele Bündchen. The first time the show aired live was in 1999 via webcast. But there was one big snafu — the website crashed after 1.5 million people tried to tune in. Leave it to Victoria’s Secret to break the internet.
4. America’s Angels
Ever wonder why Victoria’s Secret models are called Angels? The heavenly moniker was first used in 1997 when several of the brand’s supermodels were featured in a commercial for the VS Angels collection. The original Angels were Helena Christensen, Tyra Banks, Stephanie Seymour, Karen Mulder, and Daniela Peštová.
The Angel title became so synonymous with the brand that wings became a regular fixture on the runway at the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The angel wings became increasingly elaborate over the years, and a pair could weigh as much as 40 pounds. In 2003, Heidi Klum wore a set of wings measuring 12 feet tall, making them the largest to ever appear in the show.
In 2007, the Victoria’s Secret Angels received their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the brand. Considering that a number of VS Angels had become household names, it seems only fitting that they earned this symbol of celebrity status.
5. That’s one pricey bra!
Bras with bling are a Victoria’s Secret specialty. Beginning in 1996, a new “Fantasy Bra” debuted each year at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. These bras were bedazzled beyond belief, but the 2001 version stands out for its jaw-dropping price tag. That year, Heidi Klum strutted onto the runway wearing the “Heavenly Star Bra” with 1,200 Sri Lankan pink sapphires plus a 90-carat emerald cut diamond centerpiece worth $10.6 million alone. With an astonishing total value of $12.5 million, this piece of lingerie still holds the Guinness World Record for the most expensive bra ever.
6. Gotta pay the guy tax.
A guy walks into Victoria’s Secret … Sounds like the setup for a punchline, but for employees, the payoff delivered in dollar signs. Workers at VS often found that male customers were willing to spend more, partly because they didn’t want to linger around looking for too long. One employee actually reported that VS workers at her location were trained to treat customers differently based on gender by showing the guys full-price merchandise and touting the top deals to female customers.
7. Victoria’s dark secrets
While the brand has had its share of scandals (many of which are detailed in Hulu’s three-part documentary series “Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons”), the biggest VS secret involved close ties between former CEO Les Wexner and Jeffrey Epstein. In addition to serving as Wexner’s financial manager for two decades, Epstein was a trustee on the board of the Wexner Foundation. Wexner even granted Epstein power of attorney in 1991.
Unfortunately, Epstein used his connection to the CEO to lure in young women. On more than one occasion, he was reprimanded for posing as a recruiter for Victoria’s Secret models. In 2006, Epstein was charged with soliciting a minor for prostitution, and it wasn’t until 18 months later that Wexner finally cut ties with him. Yikes.
8. When Grandpa sells sexy lingerie …
In 2004, a Victoria’s Secret ad mystified the music world. In the sultry commercial, VS model Adriana Lima is paired up with a famous singer. Based on the brand’s image, you might be thinking it had to be a sexy star from the early 2000s — maybe Usher? Justin Timberlake? Nope … it was Bob Dylan.
The pairing of Victoria’s Secret with a counterculture icon in his 60s was odd, to say the least. But maybe this was Bob’s plan all along. At a 1965 press conference, he was asked “If you were going to sell out to a commercial interest, which one would you choose?” His response: “Ladies’ garments.”
9. Purring perfume
One Victoria’s Secret fragrance became the cat’s meow … or should we say purr. Sexy Little Things featured a fruity, floral scent along with pretty pink packaging. But the bottle had its own secret: when you picked it up, it made a purring sound. No word on how effective the gimmick was, but considering that some reviews mentioned placing a piece of tape over the bottom sensor to stop the noise, it may have gotten old pretty quick.
10. Whacked on the runway
The annual VS Fashion Show gave some of the biggest names in music a chance to shine, including Usher, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Nicki Minaj. But when Ariana Grande got her chance to perform at the 2014 event, it became the basis for a memorable meme.
As Ariana belted out her song, “Bang Bang,” model Elsa Hosk’s giant angel wings accidentally hit her in the face. Her hilarious facial expression was widely shared, but Ari took it all in good stride, tweeting: “A Victoria's Secret angel accidentally smacked me in the face with her wings and it was awesome #goals #bangbangintomyface”.
The Victoria’s Secret Angels may be gone, but they’re not forgotten. Forward this to someone whose favorite supermodel once walked the VS runway.
Editorial: Ashley
Illustration: Nick