Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon

Written by Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez

Narrated by Allyson Ryan

The story of how Victoria’s Secret skyrocketed from a tiny chain of boutiques to a retail phenomenon with more than $8 billion in annual sales at its peak—all while defining an impossible beauty standard for generations of American women—before the brand’s tight grip on the industry finally slipped

Victoria’s Secret is one of the most influential and polarizing brands to ever infiltrate the psyche of the American consumer. Almost right at its start in the late 1970s, the company developed a cult following for its glamorous catalogs. Back then, shoppers had few alternatives to the stodgy department stores that sold most of the nation’s intimate apparel. By 1982, the founders of Victoria’s Secret avoided bankruptcy by selling to Les Wexner, the fast-fashion pioneer behind the Limited, whose empire of mall brands would go on to dominate American retail for forty years.

Wexner turned Victoria’s Secret into a multibillion-dollar business, and the brand’s cultural influence soared thanks to its airbrushed advertisements and annual televised fashion show, which drew millions of viewers each year. Its supermodel spokeswomen, the sweet but sultry Angels, personified a new American beauty standard.

But as our definition of beauty expanded, Victoria’s Secret failed to evolve and reached a crisis point. Meanwhile, Wexner became increasingly known for his complicated relationship with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, his former financial adviser and confidant.

Selling Sexy expertly draws from sources within Victoria’s Secret and across the industry to examine the unprecedented rise of one of the most innovative brands in retail history—a brand that today, under new ownership, is desperately trying to seduce shoppers again.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Oct 8, 2024
• ISBN: 9781250899750

Lauren Sherman

Lauren Sherman has been reporting from inside the fashion industry for more than fifteen years. Now a special correspondent at Puck, she was the Business of Fashion’s chief correspondent, and before that a staff reporter at Forbes. She has contributed to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, as well as Fast Company, Women’s Health, and the Gentlewoman. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.