Victoria’s secret, just another underwear brand?

As you might have noticed, the Victoria’s Secret (VS) fashion show 2013 took place two weeks ago. Unfortunately we could not just follow it online or watch it on tv.

We do apparently wish we could, my friends and I gathered at my place, where abducted by VS for a little while. One of my friends was desperately looking if it was possible to watch a stream of the VS fashion show that was going to take place.. Concluding that the show would be broadcasted by CBS on December 10^th, close to X-mas of course, we discussed the models. ‘Did you know that Doutzen Kroes is Dutch? Look at her kid, it’s sooo cute!! She married a DJ who’s dark and now they have this gorgeous kid.. I follow her on Instagram, she posted pictures of herself while preparing for the show, look at her body!! Well I do think her abs are a little bit too present….’ and so forth! 

So is this really about the underwear or is it the fact that VS manages to get a whole bunch of the most famous top models on earth, the women we wish we where. A strategy that I would say turns into a form of celebrity endorsement, which Romain introduced to you earlier. 

Apparently the models are picked out to be appealing to woman and not necessarily men, we seem to fall for the ‘down to earth, charming’ models like Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks. Nevertheless I am pretty sure men don’t have any problems with the selection VS makes for their Angels. 

However not all men and woman on earth are impressed by the athletic and charming models wearing not much more then angel wings and small pieces of fabrics or even a show piece full of diamonds worth $10 million. The National Organization of Woman even says this “soft-core porn infomercial” should not be on TV at all!
As the Parents Television Council agrees on. 

Enough about the fashion show, what is Victoria’s secret really all about. I know the brand, have been in there stores in New York (flagship store), several in Miami (flagship and some clearly smaller and less impressive stores) and on the airport (in and out in 10 steps). I wasn’t really impressed the first time but went to try on some stuff on my like 4^th visit to one of the shops.. I kept returning to find out what it all was about (and my friend dragged me in). It must be something if everyone is walking around with these pinks bags. My modest boobs where reaching a state they have not been before. It looked surreal and although I was impressed by what was partly my own possession, I didn’t dare to buy them.. I ended up buying a sports-bra from the VSX collection which they introduced in 2007. Most sports bras are more flattening then flattering so this was an outcome! 

VS offers lingerie, that we all know, they also have a line called Pink, which is not really worth being called lingerie, but just girly colorful underwear. Then they offer the sports collection, sleep and home-wear and some beauty products like lip gloss and perfumes. All of it you can order online with a whole bunch of extra’s and promotions. When you order a sports bottom you get free shipping, when ordering a sweater you receive a free scarf and free shipping, and a free panty when you purchase a bra! You would think they need to get rid of their stuff?

While surfing on their website I also discover clothing like denim and footwear, when did this happen? I see leather jackets and wedge boots. And when looking further I even see they offer brands like Hunter and Uggs as well. Which I think is quite interesting.. Do they need extra income from license fees? And why would they start selling clothing and shoes if what they stand for, the sexy underwear, is selling well? The more I research VS the more confusing I get.

It feels like they want to make VS a lifestyle, you can be absorbed by it. 

You can train like an Angel, participate in a runway walk-off competition and download an app to stay informed about everything that concerns VS.

I would love to meet the decision makers of Victoria’s Secret, is this a golden formula or a desperate call to stay profitable? I think it is clear that while I was starting to write this post I had a bit more of a clear idea of what they are.. Well at least there main goal obviously is to sell undies, and that seems to work. I think…

They sure have a unique strategy! 

Amanda van den Hoven