Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty retailer. Stanford graduate student Roy Raymond and his wife Gaye founded it in 1977, and their five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner in 1982. Wexner expanded the chain rapidly through American shopping malls, and by the early 1990s it had about 350 stores and sales of one billion dollars, making it the largest lingerie retailer in the United States. Since 1995 the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show has been central to the brand's image, and in 2002 the company launched PINK, aimed at teenagers and young women. From 2008 it expanded internationally through airport outlets, franchises and company-owned stores in Canada and the United Kingdom. Its market share began to fall by 2016 as competitors embraced wider size ranges, and leadership under Wexner and Ed Razek drew criticism. Until 2021 it was part of the L Brands group; on August 3, 2021 it was spun off as Victoria's Secret & Co., which trades on the NYSE.