Selling Sexy

Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon

By: Lauren Sherman, Chantal Fernandez

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

The story of how Victoria’s Secret skyrocketed from a tiny chain of boutiques to a retail phenomenon with more than $8 billion in annual sales at its peak—all while defining an impossible beauty standard for generations of American women—before the brand’s tight grip on the industry finally slipped

Victoria’s Secret is one of the most influential and polarizing brands to ever infiltrate the psyche of the American consumer. Almost right at its start in the late 1970s, the company developed a cult following for its glamorous catalogs. Back then, shoppers had few alternatives to the stodgy department stores that sold most of the nation’s intimate apparel. By 1982, the founders of Victoria’s Secret avoided bankruptcy by selling to Les Wexner, the fast-fashion pioneer behind the Limited, whose empire of mall brands would go on to dominate American retail for forty years.

Wexner turned Victoria’s Secret into a multibillion-dollar business, and the brand’s cultural influence soared thanks to its airbrushed advertisements and annual televised fashion show, which drew millions of viewers each year. Its supermodel spokeswomen, the sweet but sultry Angels, personified a new American beauty standard.

But as our definition of beauty expanded, Victoria’s Secret failed to evolve and reached a crisis point. Meanwhile, Wexner became increasingly known for his complicated relationship with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, his former financial adviser and confidant.

Selling Sexy expertly draws from sources within Victoria’s Secret and across the industry to examine the unprecedented rise of one of the most innovative brands in retail history—a brand that today, under new ownership, is desperately trying to seduce shoppers again.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company.

Informative

Most of the story is good, but the fact that the writer of the book has a leftist vision, kind of ruins, then enjoyment. It would’ve been better if it was written neutrally and more in line with reality. Humans are an opposite sex reproducing species, and it is weird to hear about how Victoria’s Secret mainly catered to straight women as a negative thing. Also, the country is a majority white European country even to this day and constantly talking about how Victoria’s Secret was unfair to not hire a mixed bag of models was weird. It’s like she didn’t really understand what was the point of Victoria’s Secret and she wanted it to be more like what she wanted instead of what reality is.

Excellent storytelling. Exceptional narration.

This was an incredible book that takes you through the story of Victoria’s Secret, the rise of mall culture, the evolution of fashion branding and clothing, the impact of Epstein, and how public perception and expectations around fashion have changed over time. I highly recommend it.

80s and 90s Fashion History

This book is about so much more than Victoria’s Secret. It’s really about the fashion industry in the 80s and 90s, the rise of mall stores, and touches on how many of today’s ubiquitous brands got their start.

My one negative comment is about the performance on the audiobook. I even double checked to see if it was AI because there are several pretty bad mispronunciations of names of foreign brands. Still a valuable listen, but please don’t come away thinking that Givanchy is pronounced with a hard G and sounds like an Italian restaurant!

Not recommended

The summary epilogue is the best part of the book. It would have made a good magazine article, as would other chapters in the book. In my opinion, the chapters, timelines, etc do not hang together. I can’t recommend the book.

Better business books - read one of those

Nothing new. Key people not involved with book so all info/insight seemed to be gathered from public records. Not worth the time.