Victoria’s Secret Downfall: What Went Wrong and What Brands Can Learn

TL;DR: Why Victoria’s Secret Stumbled

Here’s the short version in plain English. Victoria’s Secret didn’t slip on one banana peel. It tripped over a whole bunch at once:

• Brand story got stuck in the 2000s-hyper-sexualized, male-gaze marketing in a world moving to comfort, inclusivity, and authenticity.
• Competition raced ahead-Aerie’s no-retouch policy, Savage X Fenty’s inclusive runway and sizing, and later Skims’ fit-first basics all matched what shoppers actually wanted.
• Too many stores and not enough digital speed-foot traffic fell, e-commerce and social storytelling lagged, and the famous TV fashion show stopped being a growth engine.
• Reputation hits-ties between former owner Les Wexner and Jeffrey Epstein became headline news, eroding trust right when the brand needed goodwill.
• Late pivots-changes came, but slowly: canceled fashion show, diversity efforts, new leadership, and a spin-off into Victoria’s Secret & Co. The reset is real, but the hole was deep.

If you want the one-liner: the Victoria's Secret downfall was a classic case of culture misread + model misfit + execution drag, amplified by reputational shocks and faster rivals.

The Short Answer: What Caused the Downfall?

It wasn’t just “bad PR.” Victoria’s Secret fell because the brand it worked so hard to build stopped matching how women wanted to feel in their underwear. That mismatch showed up everywhere-from ads to store layouts to product fit. The competitors didn’t just copy; they rewrote the brief. Comfort over fantasy. Real bodies over angels. Community over spectacle. And they did it on TikTok and Instagram, not prime-time TV.

Let’s break the core drivers into five simple buckets you can reuse for any brand analysis:

• Cultural misread: For years, the brand doubled down on an aspirational fantasy that felt exclusionary to many shoppers. Meanwhile, Aerie’s #AerieREAL (launched 2014) and Savage X Fenty (2018) made inclusivity the main event, not a side capsule.
• Business model misfit: Heavy mall footprint, high promotional cadence, and a reliance on a blockbuster annual fashion show. As malls slowed and streaming/social took over attention, that playbook lost leverage.
• Execution drag: E-comm wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t leading. Reviews flagged inconsistent fit and comfort. Product refresh cycles got louder (new push-up, new lace) without truly solving fit and comfort issues that Skims and ThirdLove targeted ruthlessly.
• Reputational shocks: News coverage of Wexner’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein damaged trust in 2019-2020. You can debate magnitude, but you can’t debate timing: facing disruptive rivals, this became fuel on the fire. Public filings note subsequent brand repositioning and leadership changes.
• Late pivot: In 2019, the fashion show was canceled; in 2021, Victoria’s Secret & Co. spun off from L Brands. New imagery, broader sizing, and new product directions followed. Important steps-just later than customers would’ve liked.

By the way, the numbers support a reset, not a disappearance. Company filings after the 2021 spin-off show a multi-billion-dollar business fighting to stabilize sales while refocusing on comfort, inclusive imagery, and digital. Big ships turn slowly.

How It Unraveled: A Timeline and Play-by-Play

To make sense of a long decline, it helps to map the beats. Here’s the arc-from peak power to the pivot-and what each moment signaled.

Notice the pattern: a long stretch of brand cues that didn’t evolve fast enough, followed by correction moves that came after consumer expectations reset. Competitors framed the category around comfort and inclusivity; VS spent marketing oxygen defending legacy positioning before pivoting.

Was the fashion show the villain? Not alone. The real issue was a widening gap between the fantasy and how customers wanted to feel Monday through Sunday. When ratings dipped and social sentiment shifted, the show stopped pulling its weight. Once the halo dimmed, the weaknesses in product, store experience, and messaging stood out more.

And the Epstein headlines? Brands survive bad press; they struggle with values misalignment. The headlines amplified doubts about whether the brand saw women as the point or the prop. That question-fair or not-hurt.

On the numbers: public filings show VS still sells billions in bras, panties, and beauty. But the days when a single televised catwalk could float the quarter are gone. The new game is fit, fabric, community, and speed-played daily on mobile, not yearly on a runway.

What Brands Can Learn: A Practical Cheat Sheet

Here’s the actionable bit-use it whether you run a DTC start-up, a legacy label, or a category in a big retailer.

Spot the early warning signs:

• Message-audience mismatch: If your best ads make your best customers wince, you’re not edgy-you’re off.
• Promotion addiction: Constant promos mean your product isn’t earning full price. Fix value, not just price tags.
• Event overreliance: If one show/holiday backs the P&L, you’re fragile. Diversify demand drivers.
• Stagnant reviews: If “fit is inconsistent” repeats, don’t A/B test banners-fix fit.
• Talent bubble: Same voices in the room = same answers. Add dissent and new data.

Build a modern lingerie (or any softgoods) playbook:

1. Lead with fit and comfort: Make fit a QA gate, not a marketing claim. Use fit cohorts across sizes during development, not after.
2. Make inclusivity structural: Offer broad sizes in core drops, not limited runs. Shoot all sizes on real bodies. Normalize it.
3. Shift media from spectacle to service: Teach care, fit, fabric. Turn creators and staff into educators, not just models.
4. Fix the store math: Stores stay if they beat a sales-per-square-foot target and lift digital in the zip code. If not, close or resize.
5. Simplify SKUs: If 20% of SKUs deliver 80% of sales, stop clogging the line. Iterate your heroes; don’t drown them.
6. Measure what matters: Track repeat rate, size-exchange rate, return reasons, and NPS by size cluster. Move on what you see.
7. Get honest on pricing power: If you need constant markdowns, upgrade fabric or construction-or lower cost structurally. Don’t yo-yo prices.
8. Community beats spectacle: Micro-ambassadors with real audiences drive steady demand. Hero customers, not just celebrities.
9. Operational speed: Shorten feedback loops from returns/reviews to design tweaks. Monthly learnings, not seasonal autopsies.
10. Repair trust in public: If you misstep, own it. Show change in team, product, and imagery-and keep showing it long after the press cycle ends.

Handy rules of thumb:

• Store productivity: Sales per sq ft = (12-month store sales) / (selling sq ft). If you can’t hit target, rightsizing beats more promo.
• SKU survival test: If a SKU can’t earn full price 60% of the time within 90 days, it’s a candidate for rework or cut.
• Fit first: A 1-point improvement in size satisfaction (survey) often cuts returns more than a 20% ad spend bump can increase sales.
• Content mix: Aim 70% service (fit, care, styling), 20% community (UGC, creator try-ons), 10% campaign. Earn loyalty before the splash.

Avoid the common traps:

• “We’ll fix it with a rebrand.” If product and policies don’t change, the logo won’t save you.
• “Everyone else is wrong.” When competitors grow and your customers churn, listen first. Ego is expensive.
• “We’re not for everyone.” True-but don’t use it to excuse avoidable friction like poor fit or exclusionary imagery.

Quick Answers to Big Questions (Mini‑FAQ + Next Steps)

Is Victoria’s Secret “over”?

No. It’s still a multi-billion-dollar brand with real distribution and brand recognition. The aura changed; the business didn’t vanish. Public filings since 2021 show ongoing scale with pressure on comps and margin while the company retools product and messaging.

What role did the fashion show play?

The show was a symbol and a spike. When culture moved on, it stopped working as a demand machine. Canceling it removed a crutch but didn’t address deeper fit, comfort, and inclusivity gaps on its own.

Did Savage X Fenty cause the collapse?

Not alone. But it reframed expectations on representation and showmanship. Aerie did the same for authenticity. Skims pushed comfort and everyday basics. Together, they made the old formula look dated.

How much did the Epstein headlines matter?

They mattered in timing and tone. During a pivot, brands need goodwill. The headlines drained it. The company responded with leadership changes and a spin-off. Still, reputation rebuilds take years, not quarters.

Has the brand actually changed?

Yes-broader size ranges, more diverse casting, toned-down sex appeal, comfort-first lines, and a different leadership/board structure after the 2021 spin-off. The question now is consistency and product excellence over time.

Are sales improving?

Recent years show a fight to stabilize rather than explosive growth. Company commentary points to focus areas: core bras (fit/fabric), digital, international, and right-sized stores. Think marathon, not sprint.

What should investors watch?

• Repeat purchase rate and size-exchange rate-true signals of fit progress.
• Sales per square foot and store closures/refresh ROI-proof of footprint health.
• Gross margin mix-less promo dependency is a good sign.
• Share capture in core bra categories vs. Aerie/Skims-who wins in “daily comfort” matters most.

What can founders take away?

• Match the moment: Align product and brand with how people want to feel now, not five years ago.
• Operationalize values: Diversity, comfort, and transparency should live in your line plan and casting, not just in decks.
• Own your feedback loops: Reviews, returns, and creator try-ons are gold. Move on them monthly.

And if you’re just a shopper wondering what’s changed?

• Expect more comfort-led bras and loungewear.
• Expect wider size availability and less airbrushed imagery.
• Expect promos, but watch for better fit stories-size quizzes, try-on guides, and clearer fabric notes.

Credibility note: The analysis above leans on public company filings (L Brands and Victoria’s Secret & Co. 10-Ks and earnings calls 2016-2024), industry trackers (NPD/Circana on category shifts), and retailer reports (American Eagle Outfitters on Aerie’s campaign performance), plus widely reported media coverage of leadership and strategy shifts. If you need the nitty-gritty, pull the 10-Ks and transcripts-they tell the story in the margins.