Victoria’s ‘SECRET’ of Selling Lingerie As an Image and a Lifestyle

‘Sexy. Iconic. Powerful.’ These are the things that the most iconic of American lingerie brands, Victoria’s Secret, sells. Over the past two decades, it has been the leader in the women’s underwear market, one of the fastest-expanding segments worth over $13 billion in the U.S. alone (Statista, 2xxx). Although the monopoly of this lingerie giant, which runs more than 1,600 stores worldwide, is losing share visibly over recent years for some reason, it is undeniable that Victoria’s Secret became a pop culture icon, representing some facets of today’s American culture.
Then, in what specific ways did this lingerie brand grow into one of the most-talked-about American pop culture icons today? What impacts has it exerted on American culture? Why is it losing the market dominance these years? With these questions in mind, this paper probes into some unique features of Victoria’s Secret, based on learning from my ‘participant-observation’ of the daily routines occurred in one of it…