Lauren Adler
Staff Writer
The well known and adored brand Victoria's Secret has been dominating the fashion world for decades and its annual televised fantasy show brings in millions and millions of views and sales each year.
The show was first put on in 1995, with no broadcast and only a live audience. It was a very typical fashion show and the exact opposite of the exquisite performance type show it has evolved into today.
This all changed for the brand in 2001, when the show aired for the first time on channel ABC and reached over 12.4 million viewers, something unheard of at the time for a fashion show.
After that exposure, the company continued to market this fantasy show every year and not only gain more viewers but more sales.
With the success of previous years, this company seemed to have a bright future, but their recent sales and views on their once beloved show are now saying otherwise. In 2018, the companies sales went from a whopping $120 million in previous years, to only $14.2 million, leading to over 100 stores being closed across the country. As for the show, in 2018 the total worldwide view count was only 3.2 million and now the question on everyone's mind is “Why?”
A huge theory on why the sales are plummeting so fast for Victoria’s Secret is that their luxury brand is no longer desired by the new generations. Victoria’s Secret has been infamously known for creating undergarments that aren't the most comfortable, but now we’ve seen from other companies that you can be beautiful and comfortable all at the same time. A big well-loved endorser of this idea is the company Arie, who is praised for not only their comfort but for their representation of all women. People are done with the perfect facade companies like Victoria’s Secret use to market their brand, and would rather instead see women who look more like them. So to a certain degree, the plummet in sales could be a political statement, or maybe it’s because they dropped they're well-beloved swim line in 2016, which they’re now making an attempt to bring back in order to increase sales. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds for this once cherished brand.
