Victoria's Secret wants to learn how to sell bras again

Victoria’s Secret’s decade-long identity crisis has vexed at least four chief executives.

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FlexFactor Lightly Lined Plunge Bras for sale at a Victoria's Secret store on Fifth Avenue in New York on Sept 4.

(BLOOMBERG)

Its latest leader, Ms Hillary Super, thinks the solution is straightforward: Get back to selling bras.

To do that, the American lingerie company is attempting an image makeover. A visitor to its stores during its heyday would have been hard-pressed to miss its satiny push-ups with the lascivious tagline: “Instantly adds 2 cup sizes!”

Today, front and centre are the “barely there” FlexFactor and “lighter than air, totally supportive” Featherweight series.

It is not just the styles - comfortable, sporty and full coverage - that have shifted, but also the vibe. No more dim, boudoir-style lighting that once defined the brand. What were once black ceilings and walls have been painted a pale blush.

Bras are “the emotional heartbeat of our business”, Ms Super said in an interview. “The direction of bras is the direction of the company.”

She is the latest CEO working to regain the brand’s cultural cachet and, more pressingly, the faith of investors. Victoria’s Secret & Co has lost more than half of its market value in four years. Today, it is hovering just over US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion), with shares down about 27 per cent in 2025.

Investors have laid the blame on the board and Ms Super, who was lured away in 2024 from Barbadian pop star Rihanna’s lingerie brand Savage X Fenty with a US$1.2 million salary and a US$1 million signing bonus. In one scathing letter, an activist called out Ms Super’s “troubling lack of strategic focus”.