What did I learn from the VictoriasSecretCom? (17/6/2010)

Things that I Know : Victoria's Secret!!1- Founder jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge

Tired of the humiliation involved in trying to buy lingerie, Roy Raymund created Victoria’s Secret in 1977 by putting the first store at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California. After opening a few other stores and launching the mail-order catalog, Raymond sold the company to Limited Brands in 1982 for a sizable paycheck. By 1993, Limited made Victoria’s Secret a nationally recognized brand, while Raymond’s most recent business venture had ended in bankruptcy. He was last seen alive walking toward the Golden Gate Bridge, and shortly thereafter his body washed up on the shores of Marin County. Investigators concluded he’d committed suicide by leaping off the bridge.

2- It is named Victoria

So who is Victoria? Since the first stores were designed to resemble Victorian boudoirs, the company’s namesake is England’s long-reigning 19th-century monarch, Queen Victoria. She and husband Prince Albert played “hide the scepter” enough times to produce nine children before his unexpected death in 1861 threw her into a state of profound mourning that lasted until her own death 40 years later. Despite this climate, fashions of the day included the corset, a sexually charged garment that embellished a woman’s curves above and below the waist. So what, then, was the Queen’s secret? Was she a royal horndog? Did she love a carriage quickie? Was the prim former princess a party-girl, always shouting for Prince Albert to get out of the can and into her Very Sexy chiffon bloomers? We’ll never know. I suppose that’s why it’s a secret.

3- Deny Celebrity requests to model

Ed Razek, the company’s chief marketing officer, was quoted recently in a Forbes article stating that each month he has to turn down a number of requests from high-profile female celebrities desperate to be an honorary Angel. The Angels are not a desperate bunch, however. In fact, they are products of an intense and extensive program designed to make each of them media-savvy celebrities. But that isn’t the only reason this commercial icon with a fresh star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame does not take requests. Another reason is Modeling 101: While the seraphic beauties in Angel garb typically stand around 5’ 9” or so, most Hollywood celebs fall more than a couple inches short, even if standing in a pair of Miss Sixty Side Button boots. like

4- Angels are chosen based on their appeal to women, not men

Women make up the majority of the company’s executives -- they represent two-thirds of those tuning in to their fashion shows, and they account for a whopping 98% of the company’s customer base. This is their audience, plain and simple. It’s no coincidence that two of the most high-profile Angels in its short history are women other women don’t, as a rule. Both are charming and down-to-earth models who aren’t bitchy about their beauty. We men aren’t entirely disregarded, but according to Ed Razek, Victoria’s Secret doesn’t “do salacious shots that women would not like.”

5- Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

The first fashion show extravaganza, introduced by Stephanie Seymour, was held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City in August 1995. The show also featured Beverly Peele and Frederique van der Wal.

In 1999, during Super Bowl XXXIII, Victoria's Secret announced a 72-hour countdown to the Internet webcast of the Victoria's Secret fashion show, which resulted in over 2 million internet viewers of the show.

In 1999 and 2000, the show was broadcast live on the internet, but the 2000 show was moved for a year from the usual February event at the Plaza to a May event in concert with the Cannes Film Festival in France to raise money for the Cinema Against AIDS charity.

In 2001, the show, which was hosted by Rupert Everett, returned to the New York City but at Bryant Park instead of the Plaza. That year, the show made its broadcast debut on ABC, drawing millions of viewers as well as some middle-brow controversy. The show has continued to be broadcast on network television every year since.

From 2002 through 2005, it was held at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City. The 2004 show was canceled due to a widespread crackdown on perceived indecency in broadcasting stemming from the Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy.

In 2004, instead of the annual fashion show, the Angels did an Angels Across America Tour, a grassroots campaign for the brand visiting four major cities.

The 2006 and 2007 shows were held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. On November 13, 2007, the Victoria's Secret Angels were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame right outside the Kodak Theatre.

In 2006, Victoria's Secret sub-brand Pink made its debut on the runway.

The 2007 show featured a performance by the Spice Girls and gained prominence as the first American TV debut of the band after their comeback.

In 2009, the fashion show took place in New York City at the Lexington Avenue Armory, where it was last held in 2005. The 2009 show was notable for featuring the results of a competition, called the Victoria's Secret Model Search, to find a new Victoria's Secret "runway Angel." The winner was announced as Kylie Bisutti.

Reference link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria%27s_Secret

http://www.victoriassecret.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Raymond_(businessman)