Victoria’s Secret Redefined - What’s Too Sexy? (GALLERY)

Victoria’s Secret conjures up images of scant and sparkly underthings, angel’s wings, and legs that stretch to forever…but now the lingerie brand is thinking it’s possible to be too sexy. CEO Sharen Jester Turney believes that its overly sexy image, targeted at 20-somethings, has put off the lucrative older market, who don’t think that wearing underwear as outerwear matches their idea of sexy.

Faced with a slump in sales and focus-group feedback, Victoria’s Secret are preparing to overhaul the brand’s image. Their recent Super Bowl spot, showing a model in a modest camisole and panties reclining in an armchair, was a small move in the new direction. Now, before you men folk start thinking this means a dowdy look for the brand, consider that an older woman’s idea of sexy is rather refined and sophisticated.

While Victoria’s Secret is a bit late to this trend (Abercrombie and Fitch’s Gilly Hicks positions themselves as “less provocative than Victoria’s Secret”, yet targets a younger demographic), it would be interesting to see what new definitions of sexy come out of all this corporate soul-searching. Analysts predict that whatever Victoria’s Secret does is likely to impact the $10 billion US lingerie business.