COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 29, 2008
Can Victoria's Secret Be Too Sexy?
Amid Sales Slip, Company Decides To Rediscover Its Feminine Side
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Play CBS Video Video Victoria's Secret Models Victoria's Secret models Adriana Lima and Karolina Kurkova speak with Harry Smith about the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on CBS, what they like in a man, and how Dave Price might get a date.
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Video Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Heidi Klum sizzles on the runway and heats things up with CBS Mobile News' Brandon Scott.
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Karolina Kurkova, left, and Tyra Banks in all their glory at the Victoria's Secret 2006 fashion show on Dec. 1, 2006 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Calif. (CBS)
"We've so much gotten off our heritage ... too sexy, and we use the word sexy a lot and really have forgotten the ultra feminine," said Sharen Turney, Victoria's Secret's chief executive, in a call with industry analysts.
Victoria's Secret was launched with the idea that Victoria was manor-born and lived in London, Turney said.
"I feel so strongly about us getting back to our heritage and really thinking in terms of ultra feminine and not just the word sexy and becoming much more relevant to our customer," Turney said Thursday.Photos: What Is Sexy?
Turney said Victoria's Secret has gotten younger with a strong focus on its successful Pink line of lingerie and loungewear created for college-age women, and has tried to chase those customers
"We will also reinvent the sleepwear business and focus on product quality," she said. "Our assortment will return to an ultra feminine lingerie brand to meet her needs and expectation."
Sales at Victoria's Secret, like many clothing retailers, have been slipping.
Victoria Secret's parent, Limited Brands, said Wednesday that its fourth quarter profits fell 12 percent and that its first quarter earnings would come in below Wall Street expectations.
Same-store sales at Victoria's Secret fell 2 percent in 2007, with sales in the fourth quarter dropping 8 percent.
The chain was started in San Francisco in 1977 by Roy Raymond, who said he was embarrassed trying to buy lingerie for his wife and hoped to provide a comfortable place for men to shop.
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- No, they don''t have plus sizes. It''s even hard to find a 40 bra in their store. Obviously, VS doesn''t think that plus size women CAN be ***.
- Reply to this comment
- Do they carry plus-size lingerie? Most American women don''t look like Paris Hilton. Something that makes a pear look s e x y?
- Reply to this comment
- "***" = "***" = most of what''s in the media these days. Natural and more feminine is vastly preferred, I''ll agree.
- Reply to this comment
- "Holy hell... you can''''t say s e x y?" posted by matveil107
Nope, but you can say prick.:)
It is funny that they can use the word s-e-x in their articles but we can''t use it in the posts. - Reply to this comment
- SharnCedar refers to "lack of morals."
They''re models. They''re paid to model lingerie. To boost Victoria''s Secret clothes. Where do you get this "lack of morals"?
You can''t say "s e x y" or "p e n i s". Those are dirty words here. Lots of 9-year-old kids spend hours & hours on the CBS News site & the powers-that-be don''t want to offend them by using such foul language.
Go through their catalogue. If you can''t find at least one model that you find attractive then you''re not a heterosexual man. - Reply to this comment
- That is all we need. Victoria''s secret going modest. This is worse than global warming. Are we all losing it? Please say it ain''t so!
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- Oddly, these agressive, pushy career women showing their steriod and surgery faked bodies in public is not at all se-xy to me. They look like ugly animals, fake faces, fake bodies, fake smiles, fake enthusiasm, the only thing real is their greed and ambition and lack of morals in a boring way.
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- $40 for a bra is way too expensive - the stuff is supercute, but not too indulgent unless it''s on sale imo . . .
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- "a comfortable place for men to shop." Yeah, right. Sure. Dream on.
Kids never go to the beach where they see bikinis & less than bikinis? Kids never see Mommy naked or in bra & panties?
Tyra Banks could really fill out a bar & panties. Nice curves. Excellent figure for modelling lingerie. Everything shaking & bouncing.
Don''t be a jealous hater, girls. Work on your bodies! - Reply to this comment
- It definitely doesn''t belong on television where kids can see it that''s for sure.
- Reply to this comment
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